With the enormous prevalence of mobile devices, retailers and businesses have anxiously awaited a solution that provides real-time, targeted messages to consumers. Behold, location-based marketing was born. This beacon enabled technology has great benefits for both the consumer and the business. For consumers, it’s a convenient method of receiving special offers or alerts from their favorite retailers.
For retailers, location-based marketing has proven quite effectual at pulling customers into retail stores and converting them to actual sales. This holiday season may hold the final test that the industry needs to finally push the technology into full swing.
Even in our technology driven age, a vast majority of shopping is still done in stores. Retailers have now begun to understand the opportunity location-based services holds, and mobile is quickly becoming one of the most powerful forms of marketing.
Will this prove any effect on holiday shopping?
Jeremy Lockhorn, the Vice President of Emerging Media at Razorfish thinks so. In an article for Mobile Marketer by Chantal Tode: “’We’re also seeing beacon technology continue to evolve and this may be the year they really have an impact on holiday programs, as many retailers seem to be moving into advanced pilot programs,’ he said.” He points out that many retailers have not yet adopted location-based marketing, because they are still in the works of producing a testable method to reach consumers with the technology.
One of the great gaps with location-based marketing may depend on consumers’ knowing that it exists. This type of marketing is perfect for consumers because they choose which retailers to receive messages from, and they only receive alerts when they are in the vicinity. Consumers might need to see how marketers use this holiday season to demonstrate how location-based marketing works for them. It may encourage greater adoption to get in on additional savings, and it might drive consumers to shop at retailers they hadn’t considered before.
Location-based marketing is becoming more popular and consumers are prime to accept it. This holiday shopping season may prove the success of location-based marketing. As businesses roll out their systems, consumers will become aware that their mobile devices provide an acceptable method to receive notices from new and favorite retailers, and they could feel encouraged to shop more adventurously and be a little less thrifty.