Part-3:The Internet of Things: Considerations for Marketers

In my previous posts on the Internet of Things (IoT), I wrote about the importance of the customer journey and marketing analytics – prior to marketers exploring the notion jumping headfirst into the world of devices. I anticipate that this question might be overwhelming for the average marketer: “What is the role of advertising when our refrigerators buy half and half?” But marketers can start small in this world of IoT – with the friendly beacon. Here’s why:

• Market penetration for wearables is < 2% globally
• Market penetration for smartphones is ~70% in the US (depending on the source)

Online publication Retail Touchpoints succinctly lists the value of beacon technologies for retail in five areas:

1. Beacons support location-based marketing by pushing notifications to a consumer based on their exact location (e.g., store)
2. Beacons provide additional shopper data for retailers to use to decipher customer behaviors
3. Beacons serve as a combat tool for showrooming and drive shoppers back to in-store purchases
4. Beacons allow retailers to deliver offers to loyal customers to continue fostering the retail-consumer relationship
5. Beacons enhance the overall customer experience by providing a conduit by which to deliver personalized offers

The benefits of beacons extend to manufacturers and CPG suppliers as well. CPG companies can affix beacons to in-store displays and leverage data to push offers to consumers lingering in front of the brand offering (in addition to a variety of other use cases). In a time when 76% of purchase decisions are made in-store (Source: 2012 POPAI Shopper Engagement Study) – the beacons serve as a useful tool to capitalize on this opportunity. Use cases abound for beacons! For more use cases, visit here. Don’t believe in the value of beacons? Apparently, London’s Regent Street is seeing incredible results with its 80-store beacon experiment. These stores leverage beacons to communicate product information, campaign offers and coupons. The initial results are in – Regent Street has reported a 6% click-through rate (CTR) on location-based marketing and beacon-enabled communication. So, now I have to plug Manthan. This is possible – today. If you want to envision how you can leverage customer insights, personalization solutions and beacon technologies to enhance your customer experience and take advantage of the IoT, give us a call.