5 Tools Local Merchants Can Use to Segment In-Store Visitors

Loyal customers are incredibly valuable to local merchants, and not just for the reasons you might expect. Repeat customers spend an average of 33 percent more on each trip than first-time visitors, and the probability of converting one of these loyal customers on each visit is 60 percent to 70 percent, compared to just 5 percent to 20 percent for new visitors.

The ability to pinpoint and engage with repeat customers is something that small business owners have difficulty doing with traditional marketing tools. However, a new class of hyperlocal platforms is looking to fill that void. Using a combination of in-store beacons, geo-location tools, and customer segmentation technology, merchants are increasingly able to track visit frequency and send highly targeted promotions to maximize sales among their most valuable customers.

Here are five platforms offering these capabilities to the local merchant market.

1. Euclid Analytics: Pinpoint which in-store strategies lead to long-term retention.
Euclid Analytics’ Loyalty 2.0 platform measures in-store shopper loyalty and engagement. It does this by understanding the patterns of repeat visitors and measuring “industry-specific loyalty metrics.” Loyalty 2.0 was designed for retailers, quick-service restaurants, malls, auto dealers, and other businesses with brick-and-mortar locations. Using the data that they collect, merchants are able to figure out which customers are driven by promotions and better assess their long-term acquisition strategies. (For example, shop owners could track retention rates by demographic or home location.) The cost for merchants to use Loyalty 2.0 is $300 per store.

2. Flok: See the promotions to which loyal customers are responding.
Previously known as LoyalBlocks, Flok is a mobile app that small businesses can use to engage with their most frequent customers. Business owners have the option to send personalized welcome messages via push notifications to frequent customers who’ve downloaded Flok’s mobile app. Merchants can also use customer segmentation tools to create targeted discounts and rewards that are likely to drive sales. Flok tracks the success of these various messaging and reward campaigns, enabling businesses to repeat the strategies that generated the most revenue. The Flok Basic plan costs $19.90 per month.

3. Troglo: Learn about the behavior and purchasing patterns of repeat visitors.
Troglo uses customer segmentation to increase the relevancy of the news, promotions, and messages that businesses send out. According to Troglo, 40 percent of daily café customers connect to free Wi-Fi. Merchants in a variety of industries can capitalize on this trend by collecting data on customers who’ve signed on to Wi-Fi in their businesses and sending targeted promotions to their devices. Through Troglo, merchants can also learn about customer preferences and beliefs, for example, which sports teams they root for or which social topics they care about. This data should ultimately help merchants better target the customers who visit their establishments most frequently. Troglo’s entry level subscription costs $32 per month.

4. Roximity: Predict how segmented in-store audiences will respond to new campaigns.
Roximity is a full-service beacon and “micro-location” solution that merchants can use to better engage with and understand their customers. Roximity delivers relevant messages to customers shopping in-store, segmented based on their locations within the business. For example, customers who’ve checked in at the beauty counter would receive different messages than customers who checked in near the sportswear department or the exit of a store. Customer analytics also show merchants which engagement campaigns are working on which customer segments. Merchants can contact Roximity for specific pricing information.

5. Wisely: Get alerts when high-value customers arrive.
Wisely is a loyalty platform for restaurants that tracks customer spending patterns and uses beacons to send real-time notifications when high-value guests come in. Push notifications and guest profiles show staffers the names, status levels, and photos of valuable customers as they arrive. As these guests spend more over time, they unlock benefits. For example, Wisely may prompt the business to bring over a complimentary glass of a customer’s favorite wine. Employees can also click Wisely’s “Now” tab to see all status holders who are in the business at one time. All this information is used to create a more personalized guest experience, and ultimately bring loyal customers back in more frequently. Custom pricing information is available upon request.

Know of other platforms that businesses can use to segment in-store visitors? Leave a description in the comments.

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.