Internet Retailer Feature: How Location-based Services are Transforming the Retail Landscape

Devika Girish
Last Updated: May 31, 2018

According to a recent study by Usablenet, 30% of U.S shoppers used a mobile phone while in a store to help with shopping. It is no surprise then that mobile channel is all set to be the fastest growing retail touchpoint among consumers. Merely offering e-commerce features on mobile, however, will not help you drive loyal mobile customers. Today, a personalized shopping experience forms a key part of your customers’ expectations.

This is where location-based marketing comes into the picture. Using it as a part of your mobile strategy allows you to create personalized campaigns that seek to target the right customer, at the right time, in the right place.

We recently published a blog on ‘Unlocking the Power of Location-Based Retail Services‘ on Internet Retailer. The blog talks about retail brands that have been successful in using location-based marketing techniques to drive in-store traffic. Here are a few of them:

#1. Sears and Kmart recently used mobile coupons as a crucial part of their Shop Your Way rewards program to increase in-store footfall

Image Courtesy : tammileetips.com

#2. Walmart directs online shoppers to the nearest offline store using a ‘Find in Store’ button on their mobile website

#3. Lowe’s lets their customers to locate items easily using the in-store navigation feature

Image Courtesy : appsee.com

Thus location data plays a very important role in personalizing these marketing campaigns. Today more and more consumers,however, are becoming wary of sharing their location information. The blog also talks about tips on how retail brands can get their customers to share their location information voluntarily. Here are a few best practices employed by Waze, a popular driving app:

#1. Waze asks their customers to share meaningful information with their user base rather than merely checking-in

Image Courtesy : autoguide.com

#2. Waze reduces privacy concerns among their customers by offering customizable privacy settings

Image Courtesy : gisresources.com

Read our post on ‘Unlocking the Power of Location-Based Retail Services‘ on Internet Retailer to connect better with their consumers through location-based marketing and achieve higher conversion rates.