Location, Location, Location Data
By Erin Harris, Editor-In-Chief, Cell & Gene
Follow Me On Twitter @ErinHarris_1
The Location Based Marketing Association (LBMA)’s hyper-informative event, RetailLoco, wrapped recently, and I had the pleasure of attending. If I had to summarize the event’s message, it’s location, location, location data. Location is all about data, as it’s a data set that covers multiple platforms. Your customer’s location changes throughout the day, and using their location to deliver contextually-relevant information can build loyalty and brand awareness (just beware the creepy line). Several panelists assured us that secure opt-ins prevent intrusion, perceived or otherwise. While that may be true especially for the 18-34 set, too much communication, especially if it’s neither welcomed nor personally relevant is as bad, if not worse, than radio silence.
Under the LBMA Founder and President Asif Khan’s direction, this year’s RetailLoco helped attendees better understand how to engage customers more effectively with relevant, personalized mobile interactions using location and context-based services. The day and a half long event was riddled with educational sessions that stressed the importance of contextual relevance and how the right message to the right person at the right time can improve the customer experience and increase loyalty. In his opening keynote, Khan covered the LBMA’s 3-Layer Location Cake, which illustrates how location data is used to 1) “close the deal” using NFC, payments, and loyalty; 2) “increase basket” with beacons, WiFi, and magnetics; and 3) “drive traffic” with push messaging and social location. I won’t give away the store here, as Khan’s astute commentary on this very topic will be featured in our January/February 2016 issue of Innovative Retail Technologies. Keep an eye out for it.
You can’t have an event on location-based marketing without discussing beacons. During one of the panel sessions, Sampo Parkkinen, director, product management at ShopperTrak, insightfully stated, “We’re past the initial hype of beacons. Their real value is in reducing friction in the customer experience.” Amen. Retailers such as Macy’s and GameStop have been using beacon technology for a while. And they’ve made exceptional learnings along the way that can help other retailers and also continue to advance how the beacons are being used. For example, GameStop’s beacons enable the retailer to convey detailed product information to shoppers via their mobile devices. They’ve integrated various experiences to convey product information that’s far deeper than the information on the product’s packaging, and they've gotten really good at delivering videos, product specifications, and consumer reviews right to the shopper’s device while they’re looking at a specific product. Outside the store, the customer’s focused on product research, where the inventory lives, and how to get there. In the store, GameStop morphs that into helping the shopping experience and buying decision by drilling into products the shopper is interested in and making sure associates are available to help. Beacons allow GameStop to add time and location dynamics to the application experience. Read the entire story about GameStop’s innovations in beacon technology.
To Parkkinen’s point, location data in its various forms should help stream the customer experience. But from the get-go, retailers must develop meaningful mobile strategies that connect with overall marketing plans. If those marketing plans include beacon technology and the Bluetooth Low Energy that powers them or any geolocation data, I urge retailers to visit www.thelbma.com to find out how location-based services can help generate life-long customers.