Winning Today’s Mobile-First Shoppers
Shopping has never been easier or more convenient for consumers. Whether you are looking for a new mobile phone or an evening dress, numerous orders can now be made with just a click of a button. And before you know it, the goods are ready to be picked up at a nearby store or are already in front of your doorstep!
Living in today’s digital world means that ease and convenience rest in the palm of consumers’ hands (or should we say fingertips?). This is particularly true for consumers in emerging markets such as the Philippines and Malaysia where most are mobile-first users. From searching online to reading reviews and placing the actual order, shopping is practically a mobile experience right from the starting point.
As easy and convenient as this is for consumers, what does this mean for retailers with branches across the city? Or that café across the street? Does this mean that they’re out of the picture altogether? No, of course not.
Bringing the online to offline
Physical stores still have an unrivalled advantage: a tangible shopping experience. Yes, that means you can try on the outfit, or smell the aroma of coffee beans in a café before committing to a purchase. The power to experience, or that “try before you buy” process, is still relevant even in today’s digital age.
But this does highlight the need for brands to better capture their audience’s attention and drive them to the store, which can be challenging given the increasingly cluttered digital environment we live in. Think about the ads that you see on every web page or that last minute shopping deal email from your favourite brand. It’s endless.
The best way to ensure that your message stands out and reaches your target audience is to reach them at the right time, in the right place and with the right message. This is where location-based marketing comes into play.
Alice is on her way to work. Your café is just around the corner, but Alice, who needs her morning cup of joe, doesn’t know that you’re enroute to work, or that you have a special offer on cappuccinos today. Imagine being able to let Alice know all this information, just while she’s driving to work.
Waze, the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app, uses its crowdsourcing model to understand the mobility patterns of the driving community — where people are headed to, and what they want while they’re on the road.
Case in point: Malaysia records the highest number of Waze users in Asia, and is home to 6 million monthly active users. Malaysians love their retail therapy — around 2.7 million of the navigations made every single month are to shopping locations! Think about being able to direct all this foot traffic to your store.
By leveraging these mobility insights, Waze does so much more than mere navigation — it engages its users meaningfully by showing each individual user personalised, contextual and targeted content.
Today’s mobile-first world presents a huge opportunity for brands and advertisers to target consumers — not only based on their location data, but through leveraging location-based insights to drive foot traffic straight to the front door of their business. By providing targeted content that is specific to consumer needs, location-based marketing not only helps businesses stand out amongst the vast competition, it also fosters brand love and helps consumers feel more connected to your business.
Remember Alice? She stopped at a traffic light for a few seconds and a digital billboard for that nearby café popped up on her screen. She paid a visit to the café and got herself a cappuccino. Consider her day made.
