Co-op in location marketing blitz

The Co-operative Group is the first major UK supermarket chain to sign up to O2 Media’s You are Here location-based marketing service, enabling it to target 2 million people with text-based offers.
You are Here uses “geo-fences” which are set up around a particular location, in this case a Co-operative food store. As soon as a target customer enters the area marked by the geo fence they automatically receive an SMS or MMS (multimedia messaging service) with the offer.
They then simply show the message at the till in the nearest store to redeem the deal. Any phone can be used to receive the messages – users do not need an advanced smartphone.
To kick off the strategy, O2 customers within half-a-mile of a Co-operative food store are now receiving a text message offering them a free 500ml bottle of Dr Pepper.
The programme is one of the mobile industry’s largest marketing schemes; all O2 customers are part of O2 More, although they can opt out of location-based marketing.
Co-operative Food business commercial director Sean Toal said: “The Co-operative is keen to make use of cutting-edge technologies, and mobile proximity marketing means we can target customers with specific offers and engage with them directly. The Co-op has almost 3,000 stores nationwide which makes this initiative and technology ideal for us as a community retailer.”