Retailers set to target shoppers as Westfield and Commbank trial location-based marketing
Shoppers at Westfield in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby will be among the first in the country to receive location-based offers on their phone in a new project being trialled by Westfield-owner Scentre Group and the Commonwealth Bank.
Customers who download a CommBank Offers app will receive alerts from 20 participating shops as they walk through the shopping complex in a further digitisation of Westfield centres.
The pilot will run until December 31 and, if successful, will roll out across Australia next year.
What about location based marketing without an app? We know there is a barrier to acquiring additional apps by consumers. 75% of consumers only have / use 4 apps.
Brrr. What you are doing, presumably, is linking your phone’s unique identifier to your real identity, then telling CommBank and Westfield. Then, through the network of wifi hotspots in Westfield shopping centres, they will be able to track how you move through their shopping centres, and segment you according to your demographic data.
“He rejected suggestions consumers may feel stalked as they walk near certain stores, arguing the app is an opt-in service.”
We’ll see how people feel when the collected data is used in other ways, such as to determine your eligibility for credit.