Foursquare’s Plan To Turn Data Into Dollars

Marketing pioneer John Wanamaker famously said “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

With the Chief Marketing Officer Council expecting marketers to spend more than $500 billion on advertising this year, the half that’s potentially being wasted is no small problem. Furthermore, measuring how effectively and efficiently those dollars are being used can be difficult.

Despite the ineffective campaigns that are launched by advertisers and retailers, attempts are being made by companies like Foursquare to address the troublesome situation.

August’s Omnicommerce Tracker delves into this topic with Foursquare VP Mike Harkey, who discussed how the company is using data gathered through its apps to help businesses create enhanced marketing plans and increase revenue.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Realizing the need to give strong customer service in multiple ways, retailers have been working toward bolstering their omnicommerce business plans.

Between launching mobile apps to opening new locations, large retailers in particular recently took major steps forward in the omnichannel space to provide consumers with quality shopping experiences.

Foursquare, for example, has built up a database of 85 million places that the company uses “to solve real business problems for merchants,” Harkey says.

Have shoppers’ preferences changed?

With so many avenues for shoppers to take advantage of, it would seem that consumers might gravitate to digital and mobile shopping compared to more traditional methods, such as in-store shopping, but recent data suggests that may not be the case after all.

There’s no denying online shopping is big, but a recent study from Periscope, by McKinsey, shows buying products at a brick-and-mortar store continues to be one of the top ways U.K. and U.S. customers get what they want. The analysis revealed that 83 percent of American consumers and 77 percent of U.K. customers would rather shop inside a store, whereas 59 percent and 55 percent, respectively, prefer to buy products on the internet using a computer.

A recent report by research firm Valassis shows that there were no significant differences in coupon use between generations or income levels. The report also found that there are more than 116 million print coupon users, nearly double the number of digital coupon users (68 million).

Meanwhile, a study by Bizrate Insights has found that 31 percent of digital buyers have used in-store pickup in the past year. The study also concludes that 55 percent of those using in-store pickup did so to avoid shipping charges.

The Vantiv Omnicommerce Tracker, powered by PYMNTS.com, features industry-specific research and insight that provides merchants with data to make more informed decisions for enabling omnichannel strategies.

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To download the August edition of the Vantiv Omnicommerce Tracker, click the button below.