Proximity Marketing

Location Based Services (LBS) have arrived at an intersectional point in the dynamics of both technological, social and cultural progresses. Technologically speaking, use of GPS enabled smart applications has become as common as air in most parts of the developed world. And these applications mediate our social and cultural interactions on a regular basis throughout our waking life. Be it through use of navigation apps, social media platforms, or a simple web search, we have become one with our ‘smart’ device for improvising on the time taken for accomplishing tasks in relation to our lifestyle. And this is a crucial intersection, as suggested by Prof. Schöning during his keynote address at the annual edition of LBS18 in held in Zurich. He and his team investigate how people interact with digital spatial information and create new methods and novel interfaces to help people interact with spatial information. It is in this context that we present to you LBS trends to watch for in 2020, comprising of market trends and its applicability in various industry segments. Location Based Services – Market Trends Key regions from the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and the rest of the world were analyzed to gauge the potential of the Location Based Services (LBS) market and project its growth. This study by Kenneth Research, project the LBS and Real-Time Location System (RTLS) markets to grow at a rate of around 26% and reach USD 111 billion by 2025. As represented in the image below, an earlier study by MarketsandMarkets Research presented a global forecast to the tune of USD 40 billion by 2024. It’s going to be interesting to see the actual market numbers generated by this industry by the year 2025. Location Based Services: Applicable Industry Segments Retail With proximity marketing taking center stage among the various promotional strategies used by large shopping malls and expansive retail spaces, consumers can now look forward to tailored notifications and customized offers on their smart devices during a visit to their favorite mall. Simply put, proximity marketing refers to the process of relaying relevant messages to prospective consumers based on their location within the facility. For instance, a prospective customer on the 5th floor of the venue can be sent offers & deals from stores located on that floor only. For this to occur, the mall management needs a positioning & location platform, which then works as an interface between the sellers and buyers Once the customer receives a push notification based on his/her location, it become easier for them to avail a flash sale or a rolling offer. Store owners can also send special coupons or discount keys to customers’ smart devices, thereby increasing their scope of revenue generation. While its application and benefits are many, retail spaces need to ensure the tech platform they deploy for pushing notifications to customers is calibrated based on precision and high location accuracy. Here are a few ways how retail spaces can engage customers better Provides Relevant Ad Campaigns Brand Awareness Better Discounts Personalized Communication Accurate Market Information Healthcare Growing numbers indicate that large hospitals, niche healthcare and restorative centers in some parts of the globe have begun implementing a tech platform known as real-time location system (RTLS). This move will gradually bring about the exit of legacy systems like queue management, communication tools for workforce collaboration, etc., paving the way for composite tech platforms working in synchrony with the ubiquitous smart devices. A few American healthcare centers have gone the extra mile by deploying a smart app which allows patients and/or their aides to interact with staff on their Smartphones, through an engaging user interface. Corporate Campus Expansive corporate campuses need the right technology to optimize attendant processes such as hoteling & reservation, workforce collaboration, and a virtual perimeter – a geofence. Among the various types of location based services, Geofencing has become particularly sought after as it generates instant data about building security. One significant application of geofencing technology is that once installed, it keeps track of all the devices entering or exiting a facility, thus proving facility managers & security departments with key inputs related to facility security. University  An integrated software application can aid in deft management of educational institutions which are spread over a large tract of land. Universities, especially, house students in big numbers and the data generated is immense. Too ensure data processing is streamlined and information is relayed to the student community in real-time, it becomes imperative for educational campuses to deploy a high-tech platform which responds based on the location of the user. The above image depicts the projected growth of student information system market across the globe, focusing primarily on developed and developing countries. However, the need of the hour is an integrated system which supports functions such as positioning & navigation and instant notifications among others. This creates a win-win for both the university administrative body and its intended users – the students. While the management can relay important information related to the university calendar of events and vital dates to note, the students can register for conferences, check availability of conference rooms, and apply for interdisciplinary courses among others. In addition to this, the tech platform can aid in real-time staff communication and synchronization. Visitors to the varsity too can wayfind and navigate effortlessly once this app is downloaded on their smart devices. Find more information on campus navigation solutions here.

In order to increase their bottom line, business heads need data that can generate information about their customers, both one-time and recurring. Information such as likes & dislikes, time spent at a particular store/point, and engagement with other recreational zones among others when gathered can then be used for planning an effective proximity marketing strategy. What is Proximity Marketing? Proximity marketing, the new wave for large facilities help communicate with their customers in real-time while personalizing notifications right to their Smartphones. It is a system that uses technology to directly communicate with customers via adaptable devices. This is the modern way of targeting the visitors and the best part of it is that it engages them as well. Isn’t that a great news for large facility marketers? How Does Proximity Marketing technology Work? First of all, we need to understand the fact that this feature can be enabled with an indoor positioning platform only. Once integrated into a Smartphone app, proximity marketing works to fine-tune the approach of the facility to improve customer experience and engagement. Go through these points to know how it works: 1. Firstly, beacon technology is deployed within the facility, within the range of the store. 2. Bluetooth-enabled Smartphones detect these signals and send the ID number attached to these signals to the cloud server. 3. Now with the help of this ID number, the server responds accordingly and sends notifications to the respective customer in the form of discounts, new products, feedback, or even greetings. Hence, proximity marketing works best for both entities, the customers and the management. This survey has more details. Proximity Marketing with Beacons – The Fifth ‘P’ for Business Marketers A renowned marketing professor Edmund Jerome McCarthy from America in his book titled Basic Marketing proposed this concept of 4Ps of marketing in the 1960s. The 4Ps being Price, Promotion, Product, and Place, the basic marketing mix. Today, with rapidly growing market trends and indecisive customers, the need for the fifth P has evolved and, therefore, Proximity Marketing. Visitors in large facilities are looking out for something that can notify them with exclusive offers even before they explore the store. Here it is then, with proximity marketing with beacons, facility heads can target their customers based on their previous interactions, and make them avail discounts, made exclusively for them. Proximity marketing with beacons becomes very important in order to seek the attention of the digitalized masses of the 21st century. Proximity Marketing with Wi-Fi Ever heard of Wi-Fi being used as a proximity solution? No right! However, with the widespread usage of Wi-Fi among the masses, marketers are now using it to send notifications. With the help of Wi-Fi hosting website, managements of the facilities will be able to send location-specific content to the visitors. Technically, Wi-Fi is not the best fit for proximity based marketing though because of the less accuracy it provides. Proximity Marketing with RFID Based Systems The most common usage of RFID tags is to track store products and inventories in warehouses. After its introduction in 2003, it received great recognition from the masses, however, it was ephemeral. The biggest challenge for the large facility owners in deploying this technology in their facilities was it required various components. Tags, readers, apps, and much more such hardware is required to setup an RFID technology. In short, it needs a substantial amount of investment upfront as it does not inherit compatibility with mobile or other platforms. So, proximity marketing with RFID is a costly affair and business heads have too many pockets to feed. The traditional strategy of sending push notifications and discount coupons to visitors is long gone. It is time now for personalized content delivery. The role of modern proximity marketing is to enhance and attract the customers’ store experience and in the process build genuine loyalty and gather feedback as well. With proximity marketing in industries such as shopping malls, aquariums, museums, convention centers, and warehouses among many others. the scope for enhancing their visitor experience and increasing in the bottom line is much more certain. Additional Benefits of Proximity Marketing Solutions Apart from notifications, enhanced customer experience, and customer personalization, it can offer benefits such as: • Customer Engagement – It is already an observed fact that more than 75% of customers have associated themselves with a Smartphone app to avail the benefits of proximity marketing while they are shopping. • Customer Insight – To know what your customer is looking out for is impossible but with proximity marketing, the entire purchase map of your customers can be gathered at the end of the day and, henceforth, you can drive your consumers in their future visits. • Hyper Customer Personalization – Based on the data you gather on each customer, the mall heads can hyper customize the selected customers with much higher discounts as a token of gratitude. This will certainly double the visitor engagement. • Higher Conversion Rate – The fact that your interaction within the facility is recorded and customized, the consumers are by nature motivated to buy. Therefore the conversion rate of engaging will convert to buying. • Mass Personalization – Multiple customers at once can be personalized with each one’s data scrutinized digitally to avoid any form of miscommunication or confusion. The leading retailing businesses across the world like McDonald’s, IKEA, Amazon Go Store, etc. have already integrated proximity marketing within their businesses and have improved their bottom line.   Proximity Marketing Will Create a Win-Win Situation for Businesses Looking forward to the near future, business heads will use this technology to collect critical visitor behavior data and allow them to engage them in a better way which eventually will result in a healthy RoI. However, proximity marketing is not confined to beacon technology alone. Depending on the facility and the services it demands and their budget, marketers will have to pick the relevant one and break the gap between online and offline customers to reach out to larger visitor