Can Starbucks become the king of local marketing?

What is a common sight at malls and airport locations?

Starbucks Coffee and lots of people with eyes glued to their mobile phones.

There are small, medium and large Starbucks’ stores at these locations. Alongside, are also small mom and pop stores who don't have the financial muscle to build and maintain mobile apps and hence miss out on the digital engagement part of it.

Starbucks' widely used mobile app can be the single window for these mom and pop stores and some other mid-sized businesses to push out offers which can be personalized to the user.
Of course, the user needs to opt-in for non-Starbucks offers. Starbucks, in return can charge a premium for allowing these businesses to push out offers using its mobile app.

Geo-fenced mobile push notifications can be really powerful for these businesses who otherwise struggle to get the attention of these customers glued to their mobile phones and attracted towards branded showrooms.

With mobile payments expected to take-off with the advent of Apple Pay, there is a great deal of opportunity for Starbucks to capture a market which could drive its next generation of growth leveraging its existing assets i.e. 23,000 + stores and a rewarding mobile app.


Note: All thoughts are my own. Please do share your thoughts on this subject.
Photo credits: ohtheplaceswesee.com

Using Smartphones to Optimize Wait Times

Cincinnati’s airport has just shown the way to businesses and government services which are plagued by higher wait times on how to optimize and correct the customer experience inreal time.

Use of technology (similar to Apple's iBeacon Technology) where people are waiting physically can solve the decade old problem of not having enough or any data to optimize.

Such applications of operations research methodologies have existed for long in the manufacturing and logistics sector but could never be used for services where people are physically waiting due to lack of feedback loops.

There are privacy concerns but not all the people have an issue if they are being tracked like this.

In case, the bottlenecks can not be dealt with, this information could be used to automaticallycommunicate the wait times to customers who are scheduled/expected to come in shortly.

Do you think this is an opportunity to push relevant offers and coupons while people are waiting at commercial service locations? Or is this not an ideal customer touch point to do this?

I welcome any feedback and additional thoughts on this topic.

Story and Photo Credits: www.mashable.com

Google Glass and the world of Retail

Retailers are driving a lot of innovation in the world of mobile which still requires the user to tap and use the mobile device. Google Glass presents unlimited opportunities in the retail industry to engage the customer on the go.

1. Ever since Apple announced the use of beacon technology in its stores, all retailers have started exploring the benefits of doing so. Mapping out different sections of the store is an effort already taken up by many retailers to leverage the beacon technology.  Push notifications when used in the right context at the right time can drive valuable results. But it still requires the customer to carry the mobile device in their hands, keep checking them and requires a couple of clicks to get to the offer thrown at them.

Google Glass removes that barrier and when coupled with an in-store experience can make "smartphones" appear ancient in terms of the user experience. Everything is in the eye of the customer and much can be done to target relevant offers in different sections of the store using the custom app. Endless opportunities to engage the customer who just walked-in to your store and entice him to the sections and ongoing personalized offers where s/he would want to be.

2. Many a times shoppers go to a store, check-out the price of a product they want to buy or planning to buy in the near future and if it is not attractive, move on and check-out the same product out in other retailers. Imagine if they could scan that product and attach a price drop notification to it then and there. So the information collected here is that this person has a high intent of buying the product just scanned with a high chance of converting him/her to a buyer. 

If the CRM engine recognizes the member's interest in real time (as soon as the member scans it using the custom Glass app), then a relevant offer may be served to convert this window shopper into a customer then and there. A WOW moment with some cool graphics to serve the personalized offer will make a difference.

3.  Notifications like you’re order is ready for pick up: A parallel notification approach instead of emails/text messaging notifying you that your order is ready for pick-up. 

Consider the scenario that you ordered something online for pick-up at your local store and are out when suddenly you receive an email notifying you that "You're order is ready for pick up at the xxx Store". Well, technically you shouldn't be checking your phone for emails and text messages while driving. Retailers can throw subtle notifications using Google Glass custom app and inform you that the order is ready for pick-up with the driving directions and time taken to reach that store. Saves you fuel and effort since you're already out driving, may well visit the store and pick up the stuff you ordered online. 

4.     Many more can be listed based on the feedback (like scanning and sharing the product with family/friends for future considerations, gathering quick member feedback, sale, deals, gamifying experiences, internal communications from glass user to another glass user)

Insights: Smartphone usage

Smartphone usage in search, shopping, multi-channel and barriers to mobile commerce.

Sample size = 1000. Private smartphone users who use internet in general and who are searching via search engine(s). Source: Think with Google.

#Retail #ConsumerResearch #Shopping #Mobile phones #future of retail #travel #hospitality #consumer products

The 3 ..umm.. 2 Superpowers!

We talk about 'Superpowers', but which countries exactly fit the title?
Lets take into account the three most talked about countries; Lets have a match!

India v/s China v/s USA

Play the moving chart below to see how the 3 powers compare on Key Economic Indicators 

(2003-2012)

. 


Now the we've compared the economic factor here are some more metrics comparing the three countries. 
Lets just say we can establish as to who the 'Superpowers' really are! 





#comparative analysis #superpowers #Inflation in India #onion prices #economicmight #military might #trendanalysis
#elections

Source: World Bank