Friday, July 13, 2007

Mobiles get comparative shopping edge

US mobile phone provider Sprint Nextel has launched a product search service for GPS enabled mobiles that allows users to find suitable local stores. GPS enabled mobiles are becoming standard in the US since the FCC ruled that mobile companies have to provide location details in the event of an emergency call. This has lead to a drop in the price of GPS chips and experts agree that sooner or later mobiles in all countries will include GPS features.

If consumers start to use this kind of service then it will bring the same relentless price pressure seen online into high street stores. It will also bring promotional opportunities for retailers to use hyper-targeted keyword search advertising.

Action: If you haven't already started getting your store inventory into an accessible format, do so now. Whether consumers are searching at home using postcodes or on the move with GPS, retailers will need to be able to provide shop by shop stock and price data.

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