A Guide to Meeting Customers Where They’re At

Recently, 7-Eleven announced a new app that enables customers to receive delivery where it’s convenient for them at a drop of a pin, whether it be at a park, beach, sports field, entertainment venue, or any other location that may not have a traditional address. Last year, Burger King launched a campaign that allowed anyone within 600 feet of a McDonald’s restaurant to order a Whopper for just 1 cent with the new Burger King app.

These are just a couple of examples of retailers realizing the value of creating convenient and strategic options for customers — and they’re doing this all with the power of a mobile app. Consumers are constantly connected with their smartphones, making it easier than ever for retailers to target mobile shoppers at the right times and places using geofenced-powered communication. The possibilities are endless for retailers to get creative with their geotargeting strategy, and with the right mobile capabilities, they can quickly stay at the top of consumers’ radars.

Here’s a quick guide of best practices to help retailers and brands successfully market to the on-the-go mobile user.

How Can Retailers Use Geofencing?

Geofencing is an effective way to reach consumers based on their location using the positioning of their mobile device. Retailers can set up a virtual fence with a pre-defined set of boundaries that connects with their mobile app. As soon as a user enters or leaves this virtual geographic boundary, the retailer can send a relevant message straight to the consumer’s device.

There's great power in being able to engage with users based on location. According to Localytics, 42 percent of smartphone users said they would use a retailer’s app more if it sent them push notifications triggered by their present location. Whether it’s to entice them to come into the store, lure them away from competitors, or remain top-of-mind, retailers have a great opportunity to add context to mobile customers’ buying habits, create a more personalized shopping journey, and drive super contextualized messages that can increase foot traffic and revenue.

What's the Most Effective Geofencing Strategy?

To maximize geofencing efforts, retailers need to consider the most effective strategy. Considering that geofencing can be one of the best ways to drive consumers to purchase, retailers need to think about the following when launching a geofencing strategy:

• Identify target customers for a geofencing strategy, keeping in mind that the target demographics will change based on location.
• Use geofencing to drive consumers nearby into the store and create relevant messaging to drive the call to action.
• Utilize geofencing as a competitive strategy, targeting consumers at competing stores and prompting them to come into your store instead.
• Implement a cross-collaborative approach where you work with re-sellers, partners or even relevant events to deliver personalized information to consumers and drive key benefits for all parties involved.
• Ensure you have the right technology to make a geofencing strategy work throughout all locations and deliver the right messaging at the right times.

Now that we’ve run through the essentials for location-based geotargeting, it’s time to get started on your mobile strategy today so you can deliver timely, relevant messages directly and personally to your customers.

Casey Gannon is the global vice president of marketing at Shopgate, a mobile commerce platform.