FROM DAILY MAIL SHILLS
Shoppers are to be targeted with money-off electronic vouchers as they wander the High Street with the arrival of 'Ping Marketing'.
The electronic vouchers will be sent direct to a mobile phone by coffee shops such as Starbucks or beauty brands such as L'Oreal as they pass stores offering deals.
The technology relies on the GPS satellite system that allows mobile networks to track people every minute of the day via their mobile phone.
The system has created concerns that the tracking of the movements of consumers by stores chasing sales is a threat to personal privacy.
Customers who sign up for the scheme will be sent a text message when they pass every Starbucks
However, O2, which is the first mobile network to trial the system to Britain, says customers must actively opt-in before they receive any vouchers.
So far, the network has signed up more than one million Britons to the system.
The new way of targeting shoppers is known as geographic marketing, directing advertising and offers to people based on their specific location.
When the consumer moves within a set distance of the store - passing through a so-called geo-fence - the voucher is sent automatically via a text message to their phone.
The idea has echoes of the film Minority Report in which Tim Cruise was recognised as he passed a Guinness billboard and a personalised greeting was played to him.
Starbucks and L'Oreal have signed up to a six month trial. Others will join soon and, eventually, most stores on the High Street could use the system to entice custom.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1320846/Starbucks-bombard-people-money-vouchers-direct-phones-pass-coffee-shops.html#ixzz12WHMxtbz
Shoppers are to be targeted with money-off electronic vouchers as they wander the High Street with the arrival of 'Ping Marketing'.
The electronic vouchers will be sent direct to a mobile phone by coffee shops such as Starbucks or beauty brands such as L'Oreal as they pass stores offering deals.
The technology relies on the GPS satellite system that allows mobile networks to track people every minute of the day via their mobile phone.
The system has created concerns that the tracking of the movements of consumers by stores chasing sales is a threat to personal privacy.
Customers who sign up for the scheme will be sent a text message when they pass every Starbucks
However, O2, which is the first mobile network to trial the system to Britain, says customers must actively opt-in before they receive any vouchers.
So far, the network has signed up more than one million Britons to the system.
The new way of targeting shoppers is known as geographic marketing, directing advertising and offers to people based on their specific location.
When the consumer moves within a set distance of the store - passing through a so-called geo-fence - the voucher is sent automatically via a text message to their phone.
The idea has echoes of the film Minority Report in which Tim Cruise was recognised as he passed a Guinness billboard and a personalised greeting was played to him.
Starbucks and L'Oreal have signed up to a six month trial. Others will join soon and, eventually, most stores on the High Street could use the system to entice custom.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1320846/Starbucks-bombard-people-money-vouchers-direct-phones-pass-coffee-shops.html#ixzz12WHMxtbz
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