Fashion retailers in Australia have already started using location-based marketing apps and website Miibrand to try to attract shoppers into their stores.
MiiBrand uses location-based technology to identify shoppers when they’re near a store and then pushes out location offers with the aim of driving increased store traffic for fashion retailers.
Shoppers join MiiBrand by invitation and then nominate their favourite brands and store preferences. The app has already signed up 25 fashion brands after launching last year, including Sportsgirl, Witchery, Saba, adidas, Diesel, French Connection and Tony Bianco.
MiiBrand director Ben Howden says location-based marketing is an emerging trend that businesses should be tapping into.
“The majority of Australians are now walking around the streets armed with a location-aware smartphone and it’s time for businesses to tap into this data and provide value to customers at the right time and right place,” Howden says.
Over the next few years, Howden expects more businesses will start to incorporate the trend towards location-based marketing by collecting location data about their customers and then leveraging that data to deliver targeted offers or useful information that adds value.
“Imagine this. You’ll pull into a shopping centre, and a mobile app will recognise your location and direct you to the nearest free car park,” Howden says.
“You’ll walk past your favourite store and get an SMS that lets you know there’s a 20% off sale.
“You’ll check-in to your favourite restaurant or bar and your smartphone will let you know if any of your friends are nearby and, on top of that, deliver a discount voucher for being a loyal patron.”
Howden says location-based marketing is taking off and the beneficiaries will be the businesses that are willing to experiment with location-based campaigns and services.
In the United States, Sense Networks is using location-based marketing to give retailers the opportunity to identify mobile users who have been shopping at their stores and re-target them with personalised ads.
The business uses its own ad network and relationships with mobile advertising exchanges to identify billions of location-enabled mobile impressions each month.
This data contains information about where mobile users have travelled and Sense Networks uses this to extract behavioural information – such as visits to sports stadiums, parks, or specific restaurants or retailers – and remembers the information over time in what it describes as “a privacy-safe manner” to identify mobile users who have shopped at specific stores for retargeting.
Heather Sears, vice president of marketing at Sense Networks, told SmartCompany the business is currently working with a select number of retailers and quick-serve restaurants across the United States which are household names, but do not wish to be revealed.
“Understanding the context and history of a user’s location provides a very rich opportunity to target personalised messages,” Sears says.
“For example, understanding that a user is near a big box retailer two times a week, and that the user also frequents parks and other outdoor recreation locations, gives the retailer actionable intelligence such as ‘This mobile user could be a high-value prospect for running shoes and should be targeted when in the planning stages for a new pair of shoes’.”
Sense Networks has seen a four times lift in click-through rates over typical geo-targeting when using its full location and behavioural targeting technology.
Sears believes there are opportunities for further growth ahead in the sector.
“We believe that growth will accelerate when mobile wallets become operational at scale and location-targeted ads that offer deals can be acted upon with one-touch mobile transactions,” she says.
While there may not be a mobile wallet under your Christmas tree this year, you can bet location-based marketing will have played a significant role in many of the gifts you receive.
Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
