With increasing pressure on retailers to enhance their customer experience there is a massive global evolution happening in the retail space to utilise mobile to literally power connections between brands and customers in–store.
“With consumers devoting more attention to their mobile devices, and over 16.3 million smartphones active on South African networks, it’s critical for retailers to start adapting to these behaviours and extend their interactions with customers to these channels,” says Craig Perry, head of Sales of DMX Africa, exclusive African affiliate of Mood Media, a global leader in experience design.
“Internationally, we’ve already seen a concerted move towards location-based signal technology for mobile marketing apps and initiatives.”
Global suppliers are driving a deliberate shift from passive interaction to active and engaging in-store experiences. Mood Media recently launched its new Presence Technology using geolocation capabilities. Mobile apps identify when a customer is in-store so that retailers can deliver exclusive or customised offers, promotions and content, all designed to help brands build consumer loyalty and drive sales.
“Clients can create proprietary mobile apps or partner with existing mobile platform developers to create unique and branded apps that seamlessly integrate into the Mood Presence signal,” says Perry.
“The geolocation based technology sends an inaudible cue through an app and through the existing sound system in the physical store location. When the mobile app registers the signal, its presence in an iOS or Android device is immediately detected through geolocation technology,” explains Perry. “The geolocation detection allows the system to automatically connect with that device for targeted marketing.”
Since unveiling the Presence capability in April 2013, Mood has enabled the signal in more than 75,000 Mood client locations across the U.S. in the retail, hospitality, restaurant and financial service industries. It anticipates that 300,000 locations will be enabled by the end of Q2 2015. Mood’s Presence Technology is foundational in transforming the way consumers interact with their mobile devices in-store.
“We are extremely excited about this new technology and believe it will further enhance the ability of retailers to engage directly with their customers at the point of purchase. The good news is that this technology is currently available in South Africa, with all Profusion iS devices already Presence-capable, which covers over 90% of our Profusion locations countrywide. We anticipate the service to be launched, enabled and available to clients early in Q1,2015,” concludes Perry.