Mobile in-store advertising, which is often based on beacons in stores, is a new way of communicating with customers. These beacons broadcast advertising messages to nearby customers’ smartphones. For example, customers in front of a certain shelf could receive a pop-up ad on their smartphones about a certain product, right in front of them, that is on sale.
Such location-based, in-store advertising is often more effective than traditional in-store communication strategies, as consumers might pay more attention to messages on their smartphones. Mobile communication is likely to have a fundamental influence on consumer behavior.
In general, consumers are very willing to accept mobile in-store communication offers. A mobile retailer app with information or offers is already used by 14% of consumers, while 63% say they would be willing to download and use one when it is available. Similarly, two-thirds of consumers indicate that they are willing to use store Wi-Fi to receive information or offers in future). It is not surprising that several companies, such as Apple, Google, Paypal, and Qualcomm, have invested heavily in mobile in-store advertising.
Dr. Mirja Bues, from University of Muenster, did a research to find out the reasons why in-store advertising are effective in increasing purchase attention. He examined three drivers of mobile advertising, i.e., price promotion, location, and personalization. The results showed that price promotions are the least important value driver, whereas the location of receiving a mobile ad is the strongest driver of purchase intention. An interaction effect between location and personalization was also found to be significant. Personalization close to the product has little impact on purchase intention.