A Must-Have Feature for Apps this Holiday

The holidays are arguably the happiest time of the year. Food is consumed in large quantities and memories are made—that is until the daunting task of holiday shopping happens.  

For consumers, purchasing gifts during the holidays can be a bittersweet experience; one they begrudgingly anticipate.

So, how can retailers make it easier for shoppers? Hint…hint…it's smartphones.

Consumers who glance at their smartphones between 150 to 200 times a day already know where to find the answer. Marketers just need to get on board to help satisfy their expectations. Apps are already touted as time savers but only one in four companies use location to leverage mobile micro moments. An app with location helps your brand own the holidays (Black Friday, Cyber Monday); and an app with geo-fencing technology is an app that keeps on giving.

Here's why. 

1. Geo-fencing Saves Time

Using geo-fenced notifications, retailers have an opportunity to save shoppers time and increase shopping efficiency through the delivery of real-time content and offers via mobile devices.

If a user has a wishlist with a retailer, a geo-fenced enabled app can notify that user exactly when that item is available and even tell them where the nearest store is to pick it up.

2. Geo-fencing Amplifies Foot Traffic

Retailers are spending lots of money to build apps, but often times users fail to open apps once downloaded and some even get deleted just as quickly. But apps with geo-fencing technology can leverage user data, and a user can have an app suddenly deliver a reward to the consumer just as they are walking by a store, resulting in a possible purchase.

3. Geo-fencing Gives Back

It's the season of giving, so why not reward consumers? Geo-fencing can enhance retailers' loyalty programs by sending offers when shoppers would want them most—when they are near the store.

A reward system powered with location technology gives marketers the opportunity to drive traffic by incentivizing shoppers with gifts for simply entering the store. This not only yields foot traffic for the store, but also nurtures a relationship resulting in stronger brand loyalty. 

4. Geo-fencing Makes Cyber Monday, Your Monday

This holiday season is projected to be huge for mobile commerce. Nearly 200 million Americans are now smartphones users—a trend that has mobile marketing research groups like eMarketer predicting eCommerce numbers to rise 32% this year, of which 22% is expected to be mobile alone. 

This influx in mobile capital is the main reason why shoppers will look to gain an edge going into the largest mobile shopping day of the year—Cyber Monday. Through geo-fencing's ability to customize to specific user shopping habits, retailer and brand apps now have the ability to target users on hectic shopping days like Cyber Monday by delivering content relevant to users in real-time.

As more and more mobile users turn to their phones as guides this holiday season, the opportunity to reach them in a real and helpful way presents itself, and the best way to do that this season is with geo-fencing.