Placecast announced the availability of ShopAlerts, which delivers location-triggered mobile messages when shoppers enter "geo-fences" that can be created around virtually any area. The service has previously been tested in limited trials.
Consumers use the tool to choose the brands they love, and may opt-in through many ways: at the store, online, via text-message, mobile Web site, or social network. Once ShopAlerts is activated, consumers go about their day and the service automatically alerts them when they are near a location that they are interested in or when the brand is offering sales and specials.
ShopAlerts geo-fences are virtual boundaries that can be targeted via location-based marketing. Using geo-fencing, the service enables retailers to talk to their customers when they are near a store, shopping nearby, or doing other things they enjoy. Geo-fences can be created around any location and are set to trigger a personalized marketing message to opted-in consumers entering the defined area on their mobile phones.
"SMS is already a very effective marketing platform and by adding location to the proposition you'll see even greater consumer response," said Greg Sterling, senior analyst for Opus Research's Internet2Go program.
Since September 2009, the ShopAlerts service has run pilot programs across the United States with several major retailers, including SONIC, American Eagle Outfitters, and REI. Participants in the programs were surveyed with the following results:
- 60 percent of participants found the location-triggered messages to be "cool and innovative"
- 79 percent said it increased their likelihood to visit a store
- 65 percent made a purchase as a result of a ShopAlerts message
- 73 percent of participants said they would definitely or probably use the service in the future
