All business owners know how critical data is to their operations. Companies small and large are currently using all types of information to understand their customers better, regardless of what products or services they’re offering. It’s like the 21st century’s version of gold.

Businesses gather as much data as possible to learn more about consumer shopping behaviors, analyze current foot traffic at a brick-and-mortar store and improve customer experience (CX). When more information is available, all industries can benefit from using it to fine-tune their strategies, solve common problems and enhance their marketing efforts.

Here’s how data can be used to successfully reach potential and existing customers.

What Is Location-Based Data?

The concept of location data is pretty straightforward but can be confusing to some.

It’s information gathered by various signals to determine a device user’s precise location. In other words, when you walk outside with your smartphone, multiple sources are working together to collect data about where you are.

These are the ways geographic data is collected:

• Global positioning system (GPS)
• Wi-Fi signal
• Beacons
• Cell towers
• Bidstream
• Software development kit (SDK)
• Point-of-sale (POS) systems

Data providers can then sell this valuable information to companies trying to gain insights and analytics. Companies like Acxiom, Corelogic and Datalogix help businesses reach growth by providing them with datasets.

For example, a retail company may want to learn more about its customers. It will go to one of these providers to obtain data and make conclusions about patterns and buying behavior. This helps the retailer with marketing, in-store sales success and more.

How can businesses use this location data? One of the most prominent use cases of location data is location-based marketing.

Marketing is a perfect avenue to go down if you’re trying to improve your customer experience. Whether online or in-store, customers who opt-in to sharing their data will reap the benefits in the form of discounts, coupons and enhanced customer service.

Here are specific ways to use location data to offer better CX in a competitive business landscape.

How Using Location Data Can Improve CX

Here are some ways you can use location data to reach more potential customers, increase foot traffic to your business and provide shoppers with high-quality experiences.

Targeted Marketing

The world of marketing is entering a transformative age — in other words, there’s customer demand for more personalized, targeted strategies. People want value from advertisements.

The days where a simple billboard did the trick are over. With the help of location data, you can target customers in your geographic region, show them advertisement content and provide them with instant gratification.

Geofencing

Geofencing is similar to targeted marketing, except businesses can gain a competitive advantage by targeting their competition. Geofences are virtual boundaries set by companies, whether it’s a boundary placed around their brick-and-mortar store or their competition’s.

The data gathered shows how long a device remains within the geofence and how much activity occurs within the virtual boundary.

Customer Service Insights

It’s no secret that customer service managers (CSMs) deal with positive and negative reviews, comments and social media posts from customers. When these types of interactions are combined with location data, CSMs can benefit by taking action.

For example, suppose a disgruntled customer in-store posts a negative review on Yelp. By using location data to place them within the store, customer service representatives can address the issue right away. This is a more direct way of handling customer feedback and will likely improve CX and deepen customer engagement and loyalty.

While the location data industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how companies leverage it to better understand, serve and retain customers.

When using location data, it’s imperative to comply with data privacy laws, depending on the area in which your business operates. Users should have the opportunity to opt out of sharing their personal information, and as a business, it’s critical you honor that. Go the extra mile and research location data privacy to understand your role in the collection and use process.

Use Location Data to Improve CX

Businesses value customer experience — it’s a top priority for them in the next five years. Using different data types helps companies analyze where their shortcomings lie, which can help them improve CX. Whether it’s geofencing or targeted marketing, there’s clear evidence to show that location data is a valuable asset you should use to gain an edge over your competitors.

For some industries, like banking and cable TV, customer service transcends spatial boundaries. A customer can call a number, regardless of his or her location, and receive answers to questions.

However, for brick-and-mortar retailers, customer service is an amalgamation of the store environment, the retailer’s brand promise and the employee’s ability to execute on that promise.

The most common initiation of of this experience are the questions, “Do you have it?” and “Where is it?” Retail employees are often asked to be “jacks of all trades” when it comes to running the register, restocking inventory and acting as in-store customer service reps, answering just a handful of location questions can take a toll on overall productivity. But that’s where location data comes in.

What is location data and how do you collect it?

NASA originally coined the term “digital twin,” in reference to a virtual model of a physical product, process or service. NASA introduced the concept of the digital twin to solve complicated challenges they faced in the early days of space exploration. Using data from sensors installed on objects, NASA is able to to develop new directions, roadmaps and next-generation aircraft and vehicles.

The digital twin concept is gaining traction in other industries – like retail. For retailers, it provides an opportunity to understand customer needs and improve the customer experience across all channels. The digital interaction between retailer and shopper happens well before the shopper enters the store.

Show, don’t tell

An in-house Point Inside survey revealed twenty percent of shoppers leave the store without purchasing every item on their list. Since an incomplete purchase is likely the result of not being able to find the item they seek, retail associates can capitalize on the opportunity to help shoppers find products via the tool they wouldn’t dare leave home without – the smartphone.

According to a GPS Shopper and comScore survey, 27 percent of respondents named location features in retailer mobile apps as most important to them. Retailers can provide mapping and location capabilities within their native mobile app, as well as customized product searches.

From there, indoor mapping technology can show a shopper the best way to get to the correct aisle for the item in question, saving the shopper time and improving his or her experience. This tool can be exceptionally helpful in larger stores with a wide product mix or multiple floors.

Empower associates with the right technology

Once a store is digitally mapped, retailers can create additional value for store associates. Most store employees are tasked with various operational duties along with customer-facing tasks.

On any given day, they are receiving goods and stocking shelves, restocking returned goods, pulling omnichannel orders, refacing, hanging signs, pulling down old signs and counting inventory. Therefore, anything that helps the employee organize his or her work, as it relates to item location, will allow time for focusing on their primary objectives: engaging with shoppers and selling products.

Associates should be logging interactions with shoppers so the retailer can learn about the needs of the shopper and understand the impact customer service delivery has on the execution of operational tasks. Keeping location information up-to-date ensures associates can rely on the data for merchandising information.

Store associates watch customers leave the store without making a purchase every day. Location solutions offer unprecedented insights into shopper behavior, store performance and merchandising strategy. This allows for a better in-store experience by optimizing forecasting while reducing the cost of operations. Retailers are in the middle of a heavy transformation period, and the role of location data will only continue to grow.

About the Author

Jon Croy is the co-founder and CMO of Point Inside. He has held a diverse set of executive roles in high-technology and mobile companies, with responsibilities including sales, marketing, product management, finance, engineering and operations. Jon’s career portfolio includes experience with Andersen Consulting, Telecom Italia Mobile, Time Warner Cable, McCaw Cellular, AT&T Wireless, Synchronoss and TeleCommunication Systems. Jon is a graduate of the University of Dayton.