The potential opportunities available through location-based services (LBS) are transforming the retail industry and are essential to delivering enhanced customer experiences in 2016 and beyond. Cracking the Code: Deciphering Retail Location-Based Services Technology, a white paper from Boston Retail Partners, breaks down the nuances of each solution, from GPS to WiFi to RFID to Bluetooth and more, with in-use examples from retail giants North Face, Target, Burberry, Argos and Macy’s. LBS is here; are you ready to plot your course?
Why You Need Location-Based Services
With the staggering proliferation of mobile devices, it has never been easier or more vital for a business to take, and make actionable decisions from, the data that is literally walking through its doors. Mobile’s growth also spurs the influence of in-store purchasing decisions, as 75% of consumers report using smartphones in browsing, shopping or finding product information. Location-based services leverage this technology, help control the overall experience and yield valuable behavioral data.
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A key use of LBS is to identify customers as they enter the store, affording retailers the best opportunity of personalizing the customer’s shopping experience through clienteling and guided selling. In addition to customer identification, other uses include:
• Automatic notification of information;
• Inventory management;
• Traffic counting;
• Monitoring customer flow through a location; and
• Payment facilitation.
According to Boston Retail Partners’2015 CRM/Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey, within five years, 53% of retailers plan to have the ability to identify customers when they walk in the store, via their smartphones. That would be an 883% increase over the 6% who indicated they can already identify their customer in this way.
Which Way To The Best LBS?
Understanding the different technology options and how to best utilize them in conjunction with the customer’ssmartphone is critical for the future store. The primary location-based technologies assessed in the report, along with some of their pros and cons, include:
- GPS: All smart devices are receivers but they are susceptible to reception issues;
- WiFi: It’s pre-existing in many facilities, but is power hungry and requires an opt-in for anything beyond tracking;
- RFID: Offers a high degree of accuracy but it’s not realistic to turn consumer smart devices into readers;
- NFC: Both efficient and accurate, but coverage and compatibility are limited; and
- Bluetooth: Flexible and easy to configure, but installation and maintenance is costly and range is dependent on broadcast signal power.
Retailers have discovered that the cost of piloting many of the available LBS solutions is low when compared to most other new technologies. This allows retailers to experiment and learn in small pilots with limited risk. The results from these pilots will give retailers the foundation to build the channel-agnostic personalized customer experience that is essential to survive in this new real-time retail world.
From A Sea Of Uncertainty To A Safe Solution
There is no straight-line solution that will streamline everything, but the idea of not having LBS as part of your future plans is tantamount to closing your doors. The retail landscape has become an extraordinarily competitive battle for customer information and superior shopping experiences. With projected LBS implementations at an all-time high, and a learning curve far less steep than it was even three years ago, there has never been a better time to investigate this rapidly evolving technology.
To download the Cracking the Code: Deciphering Retail Location-Based Services Technology white paper, visit: https://bostonretailpartners.com/whitepaper-location-based-services/
