Data has become the most valuable commodity in the global economy. It is the ability to harness the power of data, though, that significantly increases a company’s capability to gain a competitive edge. This has led to organizations digging into the data in their backyards, trying to understand more about their consumers, their preferences and behaviors. Most organizations, however, only focus their resources on answering the questions when and who to address. Often the where, the context of location, is neglected. Yet, this parameter is crucial, especially in the retail industry – a truly location-centric business – to stay afloat.
Around 80% of the data stored and maintained by organizations today have a location component — a completely untapped parameter with tremendous unexploited potential. All data has some geography information context attached to it which, if leveraged, could change the way of doing business completely.
Location Intelligence is an amalgamation of location data with Business Intelligence. It is a system that allows you to gain critical business insights through processing, enrichment, and analysis of geospatial data. To generate a complete view of the customer, the spatial reference is essential since the location is the only component that connects the physical world to the digital world. By gathering, filtering and connecting more consumer data with location data, brands will be better able to personalize marketing strategies and adapt offers to the behavior and buying preferences of their consumers. Location Intelligence is gaining importance in many areas of retail – all with the goal of reaching and interacting with customers more authentically – and is depending on accurate location information.
Geofencing
To pinpoint customers and to increase conversion, it is crucial to reach the shopper at the right moment. Getting in touch with potential customers, right when they’re about to buy, can significantly increase the likelihood of a purchase. Geofencing is a marketing tactic that is used to drive conversion and to accelerate sales by engaging with potential customers based on their location (the position of their mobile device). Retailers can define virtual ‘geo-fences’ with a certain radius around the physical store. If a customer enters or exits this area, the retailer can send automated push notifications to create a potential market. These push notifications can be promotional offers with special discounts to raise customers’ interest, new product releases to create awareness or contextual marketing for targeted advertising. Advanced knowledge about the customer (including the customers’ purchase history, online search behavior, contextual- and geodata) enables retailers to create personalized and seamless experiences across channels.
Geofencing could even bridge the gap between off- and online channel. Customers, who showed interest in a brands’ product on their ecommerce platform but did not complete the purchase, can be retargeted with the help of geofencing to complete the transaction in a nearby physical store. Knowing that the customer has displayed interest in certain products before, special messaging can increase the likelihood of conversion. Location Intelligence, hence, proliferates various sales channels to establish a competitive edge.
Location-based Omnichannel Management
In the post-digital era, every moment is a market of its own. Our relationships with digital technologies have rapidly changed, through the persuasive interplay between digital and social networks. Location Intelligence offers retailers a great opportunity to move from one market to many individual on-demand markets.
Shopping no longer has borders inside a physical store because consumers no longer shop in one place, at one time or in one particular manner. They move between mobile locations, web locations and physical locations as they research, engage in specific brands or products, and make transactions or returns. Including Location Intelligence in marketing and sales strategies can help create seamless omnichannel experiences for customers. This allows retailers to influence the customer’s individual interest in their brand across all channels through highly personalized and relevant content.
In addition, one can give the customer maximum flexibility by letting him decide for himself when to use which touchpoint for which kind of action. For example, a Click&Collect option offers the customer the option of reserving products online, but then picking them up offline at the shop or in special Click&Collect stores, trying them on on-site and, if necessary, immediately returning items that the customer did not like. Location Intelligence ensures optimal placement of the Click & Collect stores, namely close to those customers who use this option most intensively. The interaction of geodata, location-based demographic data and customer data enables a location-specific allocation of the target group.
A true omnichannel strategy is therefore more than simply maintaining a functioning online presence. It ensures a personalized experience at each touchpoint.
Location Planning and Location Performance
Location-specific target group allocation also plays a decisive role in location planning or location evaluation. By understanding where people live and how they travel between home and work, work and shopping, home and recreation or any combination of these, a retailer can make data driven decisions on which location is most likely to perform and to be profitable. Location Intelligence combines different data streams, such as mobile data and GPS data, to measure the number of people in transit to and from distinct locations. In addition to mobile activity data, point-of-interest data surrounding the business to be opened and demographic data from those living and working in the surrounding provide valuable insights that significantly influence and optimize the choice of location.
Once a location is selected, Location Intelligence can also be useful for reviewing and improving location performance. The integration of location information (mobile activity data, PoI data, demographic data) and daytime-related sales figures provide insights into which customers are at what time in the surrounding of the site. This enables targeted customer engagement, resulting in higher conversion and improved site performance.
Conclusion
One sure bet for the future: The amount of data that retailers will have available will grow exponentially. Location Intelligence tools can help retailers to consume, analyze and take action on that data. Thereby, it gives retailers the flexibility they need to stay on top of today’s constant disruption and digital transformation. Location Intelligence supports retailers to understand and predict consumer behavior and shopping preferences. In addition, it dramatically increases the frequency both online and in-store. This will help increase market share, strengthen brands and create a personalized and seamless shopping experience now and in the future.
Does your business also need support in to fully exploit its location data? Contact us via info@thaltegos.de, or the contact form.