Every product has its price. And when it comes to geo-locating consumers, so does every shopper.
Hey, retailers: looks like you might have to give in order to get.
According to PunchTab study results, “privacy was the top consumer concern related to mobile tracking, with more than 50 percent of consumers citing it as the reason they would not want a retailer to know their location. Excessive marketing provided the next largest reason for consumer concern, with more than 36 percent citing the frequency, intrusiveness, and irrelevant messages as deterrents.”
But just like the old joke about the world’s oldest profession that has the punchline, “We know what you are, now we’re just haggling over the price,” retailers should know that shoppers aren’t above sharing their whereabouts as long as retailers use the oldest trick in the book: the coupon.
Let’s hear it for the coupon: fully 88 percent cited this as one reason they’d agree to geo-tracking. And get this: Another 50 percent of consumers who admitted they were “on the fence” about the likelihood of allowing mobile tracking said they’d be more receptive as the value of the incentivized coupon increased.
Yep, we know what you are, shoppers: Certified, card-carrying, coupon-hauling consumers.
Other popular incentives included shorter checkout times (72 percent), and targeted alerts about sales and products they like (69 percent). And, as always, the desire to access data via mobile looms large: “Fifty-eight percent said they would value getting their points status, or rewards availability, via their mobile device.”
Among preferred retailers for mobile tracking were Superstores (84 percent), Department stores (78 percent), Grocery (74 percent), and Home improvement stores (60 percent) (the study, by the way, included both men and women).
“While mobile technology allows marketers to deliver relevant and timely marketing messages, privacy concerns have traditionally carried more weight,” said Robyn Hannah, VP of Public Relations and Communications at PunchTab. “What we’re seeing in this report is that consumers aren’t hesitant about mobile tracking just because it’s new and different. Some of the other main drivers include fears around receiving excessive and irrelevant marketing messages. These fears can be allayed with incentives, but the catch is, marketers need to adopt a data-driven approach to understand where the ‘sweet spot’ lies. And by connecting with early adopters marketers will drive broader consumer acceptance.”
To download a full copy of the report or to view the methodology involved, click here.
