店內手機追蹤營銷：商家喜歡顧客恨

????盡管零售業廣告的最新創新成果讓企業界驚喜不已，但消費者并不十分買賬?，F在出現了一種服務于“全方位渠道”零售商的新技術——所謂的“全方位渠道”指的是把實體零售店與在線分析結合在一起。它意味著消費者一邁進商家的門檻，商家就要連接到消費者的智能手機。而消費者對這種做法很警惕。

????根據消費者意見反饋公司OpinionLab的數據，77%的受訪者認為無法接受商家在店內追蹤自己的手機，81%的受訪者不信任零售商會保護個人數據的隱私和安全。塔吉特百貨（Target）不幸“中槍”了——受訪者表示他們更信任本地商店追蹤自己的購物數據，而不信任大牌零售商。

????要想在消費者真正付賬之前統計出究竟有多少人在店里購物，這種事即使是放在以前，在技術上也并非不能實現。但那時，消費者必須用信用卡買東西，或是報出電子郵件地址和會員卡。但是歸功于現在的地理柵欄技術，加上Wi-Fi、藍牙和已經廣泛普及的智能手機，如今商家已經可以通過消費者的智能手機信號定位消費者的位置，針對他們進行營銷。這項技術的目標是，當一個顧客走進一家門店時，他的手機上會收到一條推送消息，根據他的個人情況送上量身定制的廣告。

????現在已經有好幾家創業公司正在開發這項技術，其中包括分析門店客流量的Nomi公司，它迄今已經募集了1300美元的風投資金。此外還有已經募集到2360萬美元的Euclid公司和已經募集到2940萬美元的RetailNext公司。去年秋天，就連蘋果公司（Apple）也發布了自己的iBeacon店內追蹤系統，加入了這個領域的爭奪。iBeacon最初主要用在蘋果自己的專賣店里，但是現在第三方零售商也可以使用它。深受消費者推崇的創業公司Shopkick每年都能帶動幾億美元的銷售額，現在它也推出了一個名叫shopBeacon的基于地理位置的應用。梅西百貨（Macy’s）是第一家部署這款應用的零售連鎖店。

????市場專家們認為這項技術并不具有侵犯性，因為它是選擇性加入的。零售商要想對消費者推送廣告，首先要獲得消費者的允許，尤其是如果通過零售商的APP推送的話。一般來說，零售商都會發送店內短信鼓勵顧客下載自己的APP，但是沃爾格林（Walgreens）、科爾斯（Kohls）、星巴克（Starbucks）等零售商也各自都有大受消費者歡迎的APP。

????呼吁隱私保護的人士把這種店內追蹤技術比作早些年的電子郵件營銷，因為那時候許多商家也是未經用戶同意就買賣用戶的郵箱地址。2003年，美國聯邦貿易委員會（FTC）通過了《反垃圾郵件法案》，規定商家必須提供一個讓消費者可以取消訂閱的方法，而且還要提供發信人的真實地址。另外，這項法案還禁止通過交易等手段收集電子郵箱地址。

????今天的移動營銷和店內追蹤技術仍然很年輕，但監管者們或許可以加以關注、同時出臺一些基本規定來保護消費者的隱私。上個月，美國聯邦貿易委員會專門就此舉辦了一次研討會，行業領袖和隱私保護倡議人士們對選擇性加入辦法給出了各自的觀點。

????iBeacon和其它店內追蹤軟件遭到冷遇的一個原因正是由于“追蹤”這個詞兒。如果你問任何人“你愿意在踏進一家商店后的每一步都被人追蹤嗎？”估計沒有人會答“愿意”。但我們每天使用電腦上網時，這種事都在發生。營銷人員、廣告商和電商網站會利用瀏覽器的cookies追蹤我們的上網足跡，然后根據我們的瀏覽記錄向我們打廣告。雖然隱私保護人士一直鍥而不舍地圍繞cookies發聲，但互聯網用戶們似乎并不以為意。

????對于支持店內追蹤的人來說，一個經典的理由就是，消費者愿意為了方便或省錢而犧牲一點點的隱私。事實也證明了這一點。在OpinionLab公司的調查中，61%的受訪者表示如果他們加入的話，希望商家能給予直接的價格折扣作為補償。另有53%的受訪者希望加入后能得到免費產品。但也有高達35%的人表示，他們非常討厭店內追蹤這種做法，無論商家出什么招術，也不能吸引他們加入。

????這次調查總體上顯示了店內追蹤技術所面臨的挑戰：63%的受訪者表示不會選擇加入店內追蹤，即便是在他們喜歡的零售店里也不行。所以，盡管零售商們對這項技術很熱衷，但是還得給消費者好好做做工作。（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????Despite excitement from the business world, consumers aren't keen on the latest innovations in retail advertising. A whole new category of technology has sprung up to serve "omnichannel" retailers, who combine online analytics with brick-and-mortar sales. They do that by connecting to a consumer's smartphone while they're in the store. And consumers are wary.

????According to a survey of 1,042 consumers conducted by consumer feedback companyOpinionLab, 77% of respondents find in-store tracking unacceptable, and 81% said they don't trust retailers to keep data private and secure. Blame Target for that one. (Respondents said they have more trust in local stores tracking their shopping data than mass-market retailers.)

????Prior to now, it wasn't technologically possible to find out much about consumers in stores until they actually bought something. And even then, they had to buy with a credit card, offer their email address, or use a loyalty account to be identified. But now, thanks to geofencing technology, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ubiquitous smartphones, marketers are able to track and market to customers by identifying the customer's smartphone signals. The goal is to have a customer walk into a department store and get a push notification on his or her phone with a personalized offer.

????Startups building out the technology include Nomi, which offers stores analytics on foot traffic and has raised $13 million in venture funding, Euclid which has raised $23.6 million, andRetailNext which has raised $29.4 million. The category was further validated last fall, when Apple (AAPL) revealed iBeacon, its own version of an in-store tracking system. iBeacon rolled out in Apple stores first, but is now available for third-party retailers to use. Shopkick, a consumer rewards startup which drives hundreds of millions of sales each year, now offers a location-based product called shopBeacon. Macy's (M) was the first store to deploy it.

????Marketing pros argue the technology is not invasive because it's opt-in. Consumers must give permission for any company to market to them based on their location, typically through the retailer's app. Retailers use in-store messaging to encourage visitors to download their app, although plenty of retailers, like Walgreens (WAG), Kohls (KSS), and Starbucks (SBUX), have fairly popular apps.

????Privacy advocates compare in-store tracking to the early days of email marketing, where marketers could buy and sell email addresses without getting permission from the recipients. In 2003, the FTC adopted the CAN-SPAM act, which required marketers to include a way to unsubscribe and a physical address of the publisher. It also banned harvesting email addresses.

????Mobile marketing, and in-store tracking, is still very young, but regulators may take notice and implement some ground rules to protect consumers' privacy. Last month, the FTC held a seminar on the topic, where industry leaders and privacy advocates offered arguments for and against opt-in laws.

????Part of the problem with iBeacon and its brethren is the word "tracking." No one would answer "yes" to the question, "Do you like having your every move tracked whenever you enter a store?" And yet, that's what happens to us as we browse the web every day. Marketers, publishers, and e-commerce sites use cookies to follow us around the web and serve us ads based on our browsing histories. Cookies have always been a point of contention with privacy wonks, but Internet users are generally okay with it.

????The classic argument in favor of tracking, be it virtual or in-store, is that consumers are willing to give up a bit of their privacy in exchange for convenience or savings. That's the case here, too. In the OpinionLab study, 61% of respondents said they expect to be directly compensated with price discounts for their participation. Another 53% said they expected free products. Still, a whopping 35% said they detested the practice so much that there's nothing a store could do to motivate them to opt in.

????The overall survey shows challenges for these technologies: 63% of those surveyed said they would not opt in to be tracked, even at their favorite stores. So, while retailers buy it, consumers still need to be sold.