Digital ads today tend to follow us around the Internet. One minute you are casually browsing for a new laptop bag or pair of shoes, and next thing you know, that product pops up on just about every web site you subsequently visit.
Retargeting is made possible by the much-maligned browser cookie, which enables Internet marketers to track customers who visit their web site, and it is one of the most effective methods for getting customers to re-engage and convert. According to Digital Information World, users who are retargeted to are 70% more likely to convert, and CMO found that retargeting can lead to a 147% higher conversion rate over time, when used in combination with prospecting. Among online shoppers, 72% abandon their shopping carts, and only 8% return to complete the transaction. With retargeting, the percentage of users who return bumps up to 26%.
E-Commerce retailers eagerly take advantage of retargeting. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar retailers are missing the boat. Every day, they watch customers walk in and out of their stores, with no idea who those customers are and no capacity to entice them to come back. It’s not for a lack of trying. Email capture and mobile phones for SMS data capture at checkout are just the latest in a long history of tactics that physical retailers have deployed to figure out who their customers are.
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The biggest issue here is that these efforts lack scale. They require the customer to interact with a sales associate, or at least the POS system. In contrast, cookies enable online retailers to track shopper activity, even when all they do is browse, and to passively retarget — without direct interaction or collecting any personally identifiable information.
Fortunately, the technology and the ecosystem exist today that enable retailers to replicate the “browser cookie” in brick-and-mortar stores, through the use of smartphones and beacons. Beacons are low cost Bluetooth transmitters that help mobile apps access time and location data, and to associate that data with device IDFAs (unique device identifiers). They provide a level of accuracy and precision far beyond GPS technology.
Retailers can integrate this data with their CRM system or data warehouse, and leverage that data to trigger emails, send real-time location-based push notification and text messages, deliver targeted ads, reward loyalty points and more.
Here are three examples of how brick-and-mortar retargeting can be deployed today:
1. In-Store Installs
Let’s use Gap as an example. Gap installs beacons in its stores and enables its mobile apps to communicate with or read those beacons. Mary is a Gap customer who has the retailer’s app on her phone. When she walks in and out of the store, and when she lingers at the purple turtlenecks, the beacons recognize those events.
With those insights tied to a mobile identifier, Gap can send Mary push notifications, text messages, emails and even banner ads to her desktop or phone that invite her to come back. These messages can include relevant offers based on her visit and her real-world browsing activity. In addition, insights from beacon data can be integrated with transaction/purchase data. This enables retailers to communicate differently with consumers depending on whether or not they made a purchase.
2. Common Area Beacons
In the second case, Gap does not have beacons in its stores and is not prepared to start installing them. And let’s also say that Gap is not ready to beacon-enable its mobile app. The good news is the retailer can still take advantage of beacon technology. Many malls and other public venues, such as arenas, schools and hospitals, have beacons installed in common areas.
Gap could run a retargeting campaign through other mobile app publishers who are already generating precise location data that beacons provide. When Mary enters that common area, using real-time data her phone recognizes the installed beacons and a targeted offer is triggered. This can be equally as powerful (if not more) as an in-store install, because it enables retailers to reach customers before they have decided where to shop. It’s a great way to generate foot traffic, attract new customers and engage existing ones.
Alternatively, for instance, Gap can look at an audience of mall visitors who have not entered a Gap store in the past month, or six months, and target them specifically based on that historical data.
3. Mobile Wallets
Mobile wallets like Apple Pay, PayPal, and Samsung Wallet know when and where a customer makes a purchase. And when they are beacon-enabled, these apps even know when and where a customer did not make a purchase. This makes it possible for the wallet to deliver an offer at just the right moment.
For example, if Mary walks into and then out of a store without making a purchase using Apple Pay, she can receive a retargeting message on her phone at that moment, or at a later time. The message may offer an even bigger discount if Mary uses Apple Pay at that store (or any other) within the week. It’s yet another way for brick-and-mortar retailers to reach customers on their mobile devices.
Beacon technology makes it possible for brick-and-mortar retailers to finally benefit from retargeting technology. Whether they have beacons installed in-store or not, there are a number of ways to take advantage of beacons in order to inspire customers to visit the store and complete their purchase. The moment when a customer exits a store empty-handed no longer has to be the end of the engagement.
Josh Glantz (Twitter: jmglantz) is the SVP, Strategy and Business Development at Mobiquity Networks, the leading location data and proximity marketing network, with beacons installed in hundreds of premium shopping malls.