The online obsessed, mobile- addicted millennials are slowly back to the retail in- store environments. In other words, physical stores which lost their charm in the convenience offered by e-commerce is regaining its lost strength and is back on track. The retail landscape is one of the most celebrated industry verticals which has witnessed a sea of changes during the last few years. Â Stores are slowly getting transformed into customer experience centers rather than mere selling-buying points, thanks to the technology innovations, killer concepts, for luring the customers back to the shops. In the mobile led world, Proximity Marketing is one of the most heard buzz words recently.
Built upon wireless technologies and devices, consumer mobility, and real-time information processing,Proximity Marketing,marks the new trendin theretail business landscape. Â Â The real- time interaction options with the potential customers which can act as a reliable channel to push relevant personalized ads, offers and messages make Proximity Marketing a much desirable option for the in- store retailers. Theunmatchable physical store shopping experience along with the additional capabilities which Proximity Marketing can bring in is poised to transform the in-store retail experience to a larger extent. It brings in the one step ahead facility of tracking the customers, collecting information from initial research to final purchasing decision of customers in a physical store. In short, in this age of Digital Transformation, Proximity Marketing holds the potential to fill the gap between the physical and the digital worlds, which inturn, prompts the customers back on shops. Proximity marketing techniques help in increasing ROI and nurture more loyalty among the customers along with improving the customer experience.
A wide range of technology options is available for proximity marketing. This includes Beacons: Sound Beacons, Blue Tooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons, Light Beacons, Wi-Fi Beacons, RFID, Digital Signage, NFC etc.  Beacons act as dual transmitters which can receive data from smart phones or tablets via blue tooth or Wi-Fi and pass on the information to the retailer platform. Proximity marketing devices can easily locate the customers which are on the perimeter of a retail shop, provided the consumer has opted for a beacon signal receiving on his smart phone.After identifying a potential visitor in a store the beacon devices can send alerts to the retailer app and based on this the app can pop up some targeted personalized offers for luring the customer to the store. If the customer spends more than a certain time in front of a product, beacons can send an alert to the retailer’s platform. Sensing the customer interest in the particular product, retailers can announce spot offers for the particular customer which can lead him to a purchasing decision.
Proximity Marketing Benefits
- Hyper targeted and contextual messaging
- Customized and personalized shopping experience for the consumers
- In store customer tracing
- Increase in loyalty by relevant messaging and offers
- Increase in sales by digital delivery of promotional coupons
- Overall improvement in the brand-customer engagement
One more P the proximity is getting added to the marketing mix and this P, the ‘Proximity’ holds the power to reshape the future of the retail customer experience. Proximity Marketing, powered by a set of technologies and devices holds the power to redefine and rebuild the brand- consumer interactions.
