Most people have already heard of “Proximity Marketing”, however, only a few know the wide range of it. It is more than just Beacons and Wi-Fi Promotions. How can you use Proximity Marketing properly to strengthen the customer relationship and improve up selling activities?
The relevance of proximity marketing cannot be denied:
There are already more than 14 million sensors in use worldwide – a plus of 11% in comparison to the last quarter. The subdivision behind it: 65% Beacons, 20% Wi-Fi, 15% NFC.
Our base: the Proximity.Directory report
Proximity.Directory publishes every three months a report and indicates the newest trends and developments in Proximity Marketing. In each report, different verticals are in the spotlight. The latest report focuses on the retail sector and contains not only up to date developments but also inspiring use cases. We have collected the most exciting facts and use cases and summarized it.
The smartphone as a competition or chance for stationary commerce?
Traditional retail is facing many challenges to deal with. Online shopping and the smartphone are considered the biggest competitors of stationary commerce. To bring the customers in the shops also in the future, it is important to offer them the perfect in-store experience.
Location Based Marketing is a big chance and one of the success factors of the future. Offers and advertising can reach customers directly on their smartphones in a certain area. 90% of all smartphone owners have subscribed to at least one account for mobile offers and discounts. Traditional retailers can analyze the behavior of their customers with proximity solutions and strengthen therefore the relationship. Thanks to beacons they can pursue the way of the customer through the shop and send them offers and promotions directly to the smartphone. Thus, the sales are strengthened.
In practice: proximity marketing in retail
If we look at the top 20 retail companies in the U.S., there are already 75% which work already with Beacons – and the number is still increasing.
However, we want to point out: There are solutions for every enterprise size and not only international corporations profit from these technological developments!
Also, small and medium-sized enterprises could achieve an increase of 8% in the operating profit with an ROI of 356% with the skillful application of proximity marketing. How exactly this has worked and was implemented in real life successfully, we will explain to you with the following examples.
Case 1: Proximus
Proximus, a telecommunication supplier in Belgium, has several shops in Antwerpen and a big problem: Although daily many pedestrians pass by the shops, only a few entries. To solve this problem ten Beacons were applied in two stores. The customers who pass by the shops or entered it and have already installed the MyProximus app receive a message: “Proximus offers small presents like Selfie-Sticks, bracelets or other giveaways.”
Thanks to the easy service of the system the team of Proximus could provide the content themselves and create interactions with the customers. In total 640,000 users were reached and the number of In-store visitors raised.
P.S.: Also with the platform from xamoom it is possible to change the content in the App or the mobile landing page on a real-time basis and to determine thus which content the customers get. And we can do that with iBeacons and Eddystones at the same time. ?
Case 2: Esprit
The company wanted to connect the online and the offline world of their customers. 20 shops in Austria were provided with at least eight Beacons. They focused on the entry area and the cashier, in between other Beacons were supporting certain product categories. The data of the Beacons was connected to the Esprit app.
When a customer enters the shop he receives news updates via the app. Additionally, five different campaigns where set up to further strengthen the brands’ relationship with the customer:
- Collect points at the cash desks
- Advertisement for new products at the entrance
- Information how you can use the app during your shopping in the store.
- Scan&Shop: Customers can order the right size online if it is not available in the shop
- In-store reminders on products that were put in the online basket previously
Result: The shopping experience was improved and another step was taken to create an Omnichannel shopping experience. High acceptance was achieved thanks to extremely relevant content based on the customers’ context.
Case 3: Coca-Cola & Multikino
In 2016 multi kino, a cinema in Poland, has attached about 370 Beacons in 33 locations to connect their own app with the location of the customers and enable location-based communication.
Together with Coca-Cola as a partner, they developed a mobile couponing campaign. To receive one of the coupons, users had to shake their smartphone in well-chosen locations. Depending on the location, users received different types of coupons.
A short video of Coca Cola illustrate the campaign:
During the campaign a total of 260,000 shakes was done by more than 80,000 people. This has led to a 5% off-line Conversion in the cinema cashes.
PS: With xamoom, you can also do mobile campaigns and offer mobile vouchers. Send your users on a mobile treasure hunt or let them take a selfie to increase the interaction and offline conversions.
If you are curious now and want to know more details on those cases, you can download the whole report here.
Conclusion: Proximity marketing is a Win-Win solution
Customers, as well as advertisers, benefit from those marketing activities. As a marketer, you can communicate exactly the content that is important for you now to drive footfall to your point of sale. You can analyze the behavior of your customers. Customers on the other side receive offers at the right time and place and promotions which are adapted to their needs. Thus they get a positive relation to the brand, and come again and tend to spend more time and money.
Start with xamoom
We support all technologies introduced in the use cases above and even more :)). Therefore, we are a strong partner for the setup of your proximity strategy up as well as implementation and continuous improvement.
If you want a check of your Status Quo and feel ready to take the next steps in the digitization of your company, we are looking forward to receiving your requests and great conversations.