What Happened
Both Home Depot and The Fragrance Outlet are seeing positive results using mobile ads to drive in-store purchases, but their specific approaches differ. Home Depot leverages Google’s location-based search ads to target online shoppers that are interested in gardening tools. The ads suggest the nearest Home Depot locations based on where customers are. Home Depot reported that 36% of their in-store revenue during peak hours was driven by mobile, resulting in an eight-times increase in ROI from mobile display ads in the past year.
The Fragrance Outlet, on the other hand, is using in-store beacons to attract customers to try perfume samples and drive sales. Working with Shopkick, the retail chain is installing beacons at some of its 100 locations to push its rewards program by offering free samples to Shopkick users.
What Retailers Should Do
Despite their different approaches, both retailers are leveraging mobile technologies to successfully target shoppers on a hyperlocal level. A recent survey by SessionM revealed that 90% of retail shoppers today are using their smartphones in stores. Therefore, it would be a huge missed opportunity if retailers are not using location-based ads or proximity-triggered offers to reach shoppers and drive sales.
Sources: Think With Google & GeoMarketing
