Spend on digital retail marketing is set to increase from USD 174 billion in 2015, to USD 362.1 billion by 2020, with the Africa & Middle East region estimated to increase at a total of USD 6.5 billion. Juniper’s latest research, ‘Digital Retail Marketing: Coupons, Advertising & Consumer Engagement 2015-2020’, found that whilst the digital retail marketing industry will continue to be dominated by advertising revenues, coupon contributions will see strong growth, driven in part by the rise of bluetooth beacons.
Bluetooth Beacons Drive Coupon Redemption Levels
Beacons, which find the location of a smart device using BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy, or Bluetooth Smart) signals, use transmitters to push pertinent content and information to devices which have their Bluetooth enabled. Several leading retailers in regions such as the US have now deployed beacon networks, a technology expected to make way .
Juniper forecasts that almost 1.6 billion coupons will be delivered annually to consumers via beacon technology by 2020. This is up from just 11 million this year, as retailers seek to develop proximity marketing campaigns in and around their stores.
Research author Lauren Foye added, “Beacons are set to provide a boost to retailers, as we see major players promote instore offers and deals though mobile devices, targeting consumers whilst they are shopping. Coupled with loyalty schemes and rewards, retailers have clear potential to monetize those setting foot in their stores, aiding in promoting more traditional bricks and mortar retail.”
Juniper also believes that there is significant potential for ‘out of home’ proximity advertising, with beacons starting to be rolled-out on buses, tubes and taxis, targeting locations which see high footfall.
From Personalization to Hyper-personalization
Successful brands will be those who capitalize on the wealth of data available on consumer habits and interests, leading to the implementation of targeted advertising. However, taking this one step further, Juniper observes a shift to hyper-personalization: where companies effectively create bespoke, individualized engagement across all brand offers, thereby reinforcing the scale of customer loyalty. A number of retailers already utilize this method; Netflix, for example, stated that recommendations made via hyper-personalization data accounted for 60 percent of its rentals in 2014.
Other Key Findings Include:
Over 80 percent of all coupons issued will be on mobile devices by 2020, as opposed to under 20 percent on PCs & laptops.
The impact of ad blocking technologies will see the equivalent of almost 10 percent of global digital advertising revenues lost by 2020.
The whitepaper, Digital Retail Marketing ~ Beacons Signal the Future is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the new research.
