The use of beacons is extending beyond delivering in-store promotions to predict when a shopper is most likely to visit a store so an offer can be sent in advance, resulting in a verified sales lift, according to new data released today by inMarket and Crescendo Collective.

For example, Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner used predictive mobile advertising based on beacon data in the first quarter of 2016 to target shoppers who were due for a shopping trip as indicated by their weekly store visit habits. The campaign resulted in 55 percent average brand awareness, 25.3 percent post-engagement purchase intent and 3.2 times the expected return-on-investment.

“Quite often, people think of first-party proximity and beacons as driving in-store engagements only – and it’s still a huge part of inMarket’s offering,” said Kevin Hunter, president of inMarket.

“But when we look at that in-store data over time, patterns emerge and we can reach shoppers leading up to that in-store visit,” he said. “For example, a person who grocery shops every seven days on Sunday is more receptive on Saturdays when they’re thinking about that shopping trip versus Mondays when they’re done.

“We help brands ramp up their messaging just before those store visits, to reach people when they’re most receptive.”

Sales lift
Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner developed the campaign with digital agency Crescendo Collective and beacon network inMarket, which reaches approximately 46.2 million monthly active application users in the United States.

In a separate Q1 effort, a brand in the packaged meat category worked with Crescendo Collective and inMarket to target a subset of 17 million shoppers in the top five designated marketing areas with predictive banners, resulting in a verified sales lift of 3.5 percent, per Nielsen.

InMarket’s Quantum Receptivity predictive solution uses first-party beacon proximity data from the users across a number of shopping related apps to predict when shoppers are due for their next store visit. Using this information, brands can reach consumers immediately before a shopping trip, when they are more likely to be receptive than if they were to receive an offer soon after a trip to the store.

Marketers reach app users in-store via beacons

Smarter marketing
Per Crescendo Collective, this strategy delivers a more engaged audience than other forms of digital marketing, such as paid search, promoted social and display ads.

“Ads on our phones will get smarter and more adaptive,” Mr. Hunter said. “Consumers will see more relevant ads before they shop, and fewer when they’ve just completed a store trip.

“Advertisers will improve ad spend efficiency by eliminating wasted impressions on folks who aren’t receptive to their message,” he said. “After all, who wants to go back to the store after they just got home?”