Proximity Based Application | Elle uses beacon technology to drive 500,000 retail store visits

Source    : digiday
By        : Hilary Milnes
Category  : Proximity Based Application

Many publishers add product links to articles to try to get readers to buy online. With a new shopping gambit, Elle magazine is driving consumers into actual physical stores.


“The single, most universal request I hear from every advertiser, whether it’s luxury, beauty or fast fashion, is, ‘Help us drive retail store traffic,’” said O’Malley. “Everyone wants more people in stores — and that’s not necessarily new — but right now, retailers are seeing a fall off more than ever.”

Beacon technology has become a way for retailers to boost in-store traffic with digital features.

“Readers rely on Elle’s point of view when making purchasing decisions, so that combined with an offer, like a discount, is a powerful combination,” said Murphy.

Results from the first five weeks were strong enough that Elle plans to continue the program in 2016.
The push open rate was 15 times higher than the mobile advertising average of 0.8, while in-store visit rates were 100 times higher. That translated to 500,000 in-store visits driven by the beacons in five weeks, O’Malley said. According to a 2015 study by Deloitte, beacon messages over the past year had a 1 percent open rate, and of those who opened the messages, 20 percent went into stores.

“We already curate product in our magazines, but this gets it to the reader when they’re out in the market,” said O’Malley. “That editorial endorsement is highly valuable, because when someone gets a pop-up from a brand selling something, the instinct is delete, delete, delete.”


For Elle, the idea behind Shop Now was to use its editorial sway with readers when they’re out (and possibly closer to a store), not on the couch flipping through a magazine. Despite positive results in its first run, Elle is waiting until after the holidays to continue the program.

“The holidays are a crowded, noisy time,” said O’Malley. “We’re going to instead take a hiatus, and recollect.”

(Read More: digiday.com/publishers/elle-uses-beacon-technology-drive-500000-retail-store-visits/)