Shoppers Surprisingly Willing To Give Up Privacy For Deals

Laura HellerContributor

Retailers are in a hurry to beam messages to shoppers in stores using new technology. There has been some debate as to whether shoppers will welcome this messaging or simply find it creepy. Now there’s new research to indicate it’s the former.

Close to half of all smartphone owners are open to receiving location-based messages, if it means receiving more personalized offers, according to a new study by eDigitalResearch.

Of the 1,300 smartphone owners surveyed, one third (33 percent) believe that personalized, direct messages sent straight to their smartphone when out shopping would ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ influence their purchase decisions.

Now these shoppers were in the U.K. and mobile adoption is greater in Europe than the U.S., but we’re not all that far behind. Besides, U.S. shoppers have shown themselves willing to give up quite a lot for a good deal. Roughly 78 percent of those that would be happy to receive messages said they would be ‘extremely willing’ or ‘somewhat willing’ for retailers to use this data if it meant more personalised messages for them.

This in-store messaging is made possible by new technology. Currently, the most popular platform is Apple's AAPL +0.38% iBeacon. It uses Bluetooth LowEnergy (BLE) to beam messages from beacons installed inside stores to shoppers smartphones. Get close to a beacon and a message about a nearby product pops up. Maybe it offers a coupon or some kind of discount.

Because according to yet another study, this one by Catalina marketing, shoppers rank mobile coupons, discounts and deals as highly desirable and useful. These are features shoppers currently use and want more of in the future — 31 percent said they had redeemed a mobile coupon in the past six months, and 38 percent said it was extremely likely they would do so in the future.

“It’s clear that smartphone savvy shoppers are looking for an application that improves on existing shopping routines and rituals, but will also embrace innovative features and creative capabilities that solve for unsolved needs and make the shopping trip a little more interesting and exciting,” noted the study.

As retailers install more robust in-store networks our world will start looking a lot more like Tom Cruise’s in “Minority Report.” And those who find that creepy may just find themselves in the minority.