Could a new technology help your shopper marketing campaign? Christmas is coming. Across the country, supermarket shelves are already stocked with turkey and sprouts; Christmas lights are starting to go up, and retailers are getting ready for the busy festive shopping season.
Each year, the number of online Christmas shopper’s increases and this year is no different, with SagePay predicting that online Christmas sales will surpass £13bn.
This may sound like bad news for high street retailers, but on the contrary, the high street is still King – accounting for around 80% of total retail sales during the Christmas period. Shoppers will soon be out in force, hunting down the must-have presents and fighting over the last box of crackers.
Online threat
The advent of online shopping has brought with it an ever-present threat to bricks-and-mortar retailers: Showrooming – the practice of visiting a shop in order to examine a product before buying it online at a lower price; is rife during the festive season, as shoppers scramble to find the best deals.
How can you make sure that shoppers buy your products in-store this Christmas? The answer could be beacon technology.
Beacon basics
What is it? Beacon technology enables digital devices to alert an app or a website when a customer approaches or leaves a location. Retailers that have beacons in store can push timely messages to and promote relevant products as they navigate the store, to influence their shopping behaviour and inform their buying decisions at the shelf-edge.
However, Bluetooth technology is about much more than just location. It gives retailers the ability to gather customer data such as the length and frequency of their visits, and their in-store purchases. These can be extracted so that businesses can tailor offers that they know will appeal to each shopper individually.
Why is it important? Savvy shoppers are always on the lookout for bargains. According to Google’s ‘Mobile In-Store Research’ study, almost 40% of smart phone shoppers use their mobile to look for offers whilst in store, while others are comparing prices and reading reviews.
Retailers need to pre-empt this and target consumers with enticing offers, so they enter the store with the intention to buy, rather than showroom.
Beacons can showcase added value product information and reviews; so shoppers have access to all the information they need. The more information a shopper has about a product and additional store services, the more likely they are to buy it there and then.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
