Location-based marketing firm Placecast has raised an additional $3 million (£2 million) in Series B funding from current investors, Quatrex Capital, ONSET Ventures and Voyager Capital, to expand its ShopAlerts location-based marketing service. The funding follows a Series B round of funding in November 2009, which raised $5 million.
Brands including The North Face, SONIC Drive-in and American Eagle have already run location-triggered mobile messaging programs on the ShopAlerts service. ShopAlerts delivers location-triggered mobile messages when consumers enter an area bound by a geo-fence, which can be created around any physical location. With substantial interest from retailers and large companies in the carrier, handset and digital media industries, Placecast says it will use the funding to continue to rollout its service to a larger network of retailers.
ShopAlerts is a retailer marketing solution. Retailers leverage the technology to create their own version of the service; consumers choose the brands they want to interact with, and can opt-in online, in store, via text-message, mobile website, or a social network. Once ShopAlerts is activated, consumers go about their day and the service automatically alerts them when they are near a location that they are interested in, or when the brand is offering sales and specials. Using geo-fencing technology, the service enables retailers to talk to their customers when they are near a store, shopping nearby, or doing other things they enjoy. Geo-fences can be created around any location and are set to trigger a personalized marketing message to opted-in consumers entering the defined area on their mobile phones. Customized messages are created and delivered automatically to shoppers creating a trusted, one-to-one communication channel based on place and time. The service works on any phone.
“After seeing considerable momentum for our new ShopAlerts service, we’re looking forward to making it an indispensable solution for every major physical retailer across the US,” says Placecast CEO, Alistair Goodman.
According to a recent report commissioned by Juniper Research, the mobile location-based services market will be worth more than $12 billion by 2014. In addition, Juniper’s ‘Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies’ report predicts that advertising will take an increasing share of location-based revenues in the next five years.
“While the mobile channel typically accounts for a very small proportion of marketing budget, we’re seeing clear indications that with brands placing greater emphasis on engagement and quantifiable measurement of campaign response rates, mobile is emerging is an attractive means of reaching consumers 24/7 with targeted, opt-in advertising,” says Windsor Holden, Principal Analyst at Juniper Research. “Furthermore, when the opportunities which location offers are factored in – tailoring advertising to where an individual is at a given time – then the value of such advertising rises considerably.”
You can see a video demo of ShopAlerts here.
Brands including The North Face, SONIC Drive-in and American Eagle have already run location-triggered mobile messaging programs on the ShopAlerts service. ShopAlerts delivers location-triggered mobile messages when consumers enter an area bound by a geo-fence, which can be created around any physical location. With substantial interest from retailers and large companies in the carrier, handset and digital media industries, Placecast says it will use the funding to continue to rollout its service to a larger network of retailers.
ShopAlerts is a retailer marketing solution. Retailers leverage the technology to create their own version of the service; consumers choose the brands they want to interact with, and can opt-in online, in store, via text-message, mobile website, or a social network. Once ShopAlerts is activated, consumers go about their day and the service automatically alerts them when they are near a location that they are interested in, or when the brand is offering sales and specials. Using geo-fencing technology, the service enables retailers to talk to their customers when they are near a store, shopping nearby, or doing other things they enjoy. Geo-fences can be created around any location and are set to trigger a personalized marketing message to opted-in consumers entering the defined area on their mobile phones. Customized messages are created and delivered automatically to shoppers creating a trusted, one-to-one communication channel based on place and time. The service works on any phone.
“After seeing considerable momentum for our new ShopAlerts service, we’re looking forward to making it an indispensable solution for every major physical retailer across the US,” says Placecast CEO, Alistair Goodman.
According to a recent report commissioned by Juniper Research, the mobile location-based services market will be worth more than $12 billion by 2014. In addition, Juniper’s ‘Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies’ report predicts that advertising will take an increasing share of location-based revenues in the next five years.
“While the mobile channel typically accounts for a very small proportion of marketing budget, we’re seeing clear indications that with brands placing greater emphasis on engagement and quantifiable measurement of campaign response rates, mobile is emerging is an attractive means of reaching consumers 24/7 with targeted, opt-in advertising,” says Windsor Holden, Principal Analyst at Juniper Research. “Furthermore, when the opportunities which location offers are factored in – tailoring advertising to where an individual is at a given time – then the value of such advertising rises considerably.”
You can see a video demo of ShopAlerts here.
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