GroundTruth Uses Location Data to Reach ‘Pick-Up Loyalists’

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Walmart’s decision to push into Amazon’s territory with the launch of Walmart+ has created an opening for location marketing firms and brands that run geotargeted campaigns.

The recent debut of Walmart+ positions the retailer as a direct Amazon Prime competitor. For $98 per year, or $12.95 per month, Walmart+ members can get free unlimited same-day delivery for orders over $35, local store pickups, and discounted prices on fuel at more than 1,500 stations around the country.

Being able to target consumers who are still spending heavily amid the pandemic, and finding out what makes them different from consumers who are shopping exclusively online, has been a challenge for marketers up until this point. Mapping technology being put out by GroundTruth could help to change that.

GroundTruth has mapped more than 2,900 Walmart Online Grocery Pick-Up zones within Walmart parking lots, which means brands using GroundTruth’s technology can now build accurate custom audience segments comprised of these specific shoppers.

Expanding on that concept, brands should be able to send different mobile marketing pitches to consumers who are picking up groceries via Walmart+’s curbside program and consumers who are getting out of their cars and shopping in-store. GroundTruth’s technology turns location data on Walmart+ shoppers into useful consumer insights for brands.

“By mapping these pick-up areas, not only can we target ‘pick-up loyalists’ but also start to understand how many shoppers are leveraging this service versus going in-store,” says Dan Silver, vice president, head of marketing at GroundTruth. “We are currently offering this analysis for multiple retailers and restaurants and this helps marketers understand and quantify shifts in behavior, and help them plan accordingly.”

The blueprints that GroundTruth developed for these Walmart pick-up zones are separate from store blueprints, which ensures that competing retailers and brands will be able to differentiate between in-store visits and trips to pick up online purchases.

“With Covid-19, the shift in consumer behavior toward leveraging pick-up has increased dramatically,” Silver says. “With this shift in consumer behavior, we’ve also seen increased demand from advertisers and marketers needing to reach this coveted audience of shoppers leveraging pick-up as traditional, in-store tactics are becoming less effective.”

As GroundTruth was looking for a unique solution that would allow brands to effectively target consumers who prefer picking up their groceries curbside, Walmart began to hint at its plans to debut a membership program that would include grocery pick-up and delivery. Walmart’s timeline dovetailed nicely with GroundTruth’s interest in pushing further into the space.

Silver says Walmart’s position as one of the largest retailers in the world, coupled with its already having established areas within parking lots for online pick-up orders, made it the ideal starting point for GroundTruth’s new project. Although GroundTruth is beginning with Walmart, the company is in the process of expanding its blueprint mapping solution to other retailers, such as Target and Kroger, in the future.

“The [Blueprints] platform allows us to easily create these precise boundaries in real-time as retailers are preparing for new behaviors,” Silver says. “The concept of in-store, on lot and retail block is really just one component of Blueprints. And it does allow us to distinguish certain messages that marketers may want to convey.”

In addition to its Blueprints platform, GroundTruth recently rolled out Delivery Zones for restaurants. The Delivery Zones product is created with Blueprints technology, mapping the nearby locations that those consumers visiting specific restaurants are coming from and creating defined areas around those hot spots.

Looking forward into the holiday season, and beyond, Silver says he anticipates that these types of hyper-targeted offerings will be critical for marketers to leverage if they plan to tap into specific audience insights.

“Blueprints is also the foundation for audience creation – that’s how we can build products such as pick-up zone audiences,” Silver says. “In times of Covid, or even for the foreseeable future, understanding consumers’ proclivity for convenience is crucial.”

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.Rainbow over Montclair

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Stephanie Miles is a journalist who covers personal finance, technology, and real estate. As Street Fight’s senior editor, she is particularly interested in how local merchants and national brands are utilizing hyperlocal technology to reach consumers. She has written for FHM, the Daily News, Working World, Gawker, Cityfile, and Recessionwire.