Gimbal, the leading location intelligence platform, and NextNav, the leader in 3D geolocation, have partnered to elevate the capabilities of location services for consumers. The partnership makes a new, vertical dimension – the Z-axis – available for brands and retailers within their mobile applications to more accurately understand how customers move through the physical world.
Fulfillment options like curbside and in-store pickup were tested and adopted by a large portion of the U.S. population over the past 12 months. Continued usage of click-and-collect services are expected to stick around, driven primarily by their ease-of-use. According to the National Retail Federation’s Consumer View Winter 2020 study, 83% of households say convenience is more important to their buying decisions than it was 5 years ago.
Gimbal’s On-the-Way SDK enables seamless pickup experiences for consumers by letting stores know when their customers have left, if there is unexpected traffic, and when they’ve arrived on-site to pick up an order through real-time updates. The NextNav Pinnacle service improves the vertical accuracy of those estimates by including floor-level altitude measurements throughout the journey.
“Many brands are expanding their physical footprint right now with a disproportionate number of new locations planned in urban areas where GPS is less reliable. Adding NextNav’s additional layer of location granularity will be a game changer for retailers and restaurants whose customers are traveling to and from their apartments and condos above ground level,” shared Matthew Russo, Gimbal COO/CMO.
Understanding when a consumer enters a geofenced boundary and what floor they are on – whether a parking structure, in a building, or a sports arena – sets a standard of convenience that is otherwise not possible with GPS coordinates alone. This layered contextual data creates marketing opportunities and operational efficiencies, including:
- In-Stadium and Venue Sales – Mobile merchandise or food orders can be easily delivered to fans at their seat via advanced vertical location detection.
- Improved Customer Service – Locating customers in a department or retail store with multiple levels allows store associates equipped with tablets to better service customers. This creates upsell opportunities and has a loyalty play, as well.
- Product Discovery – Triggering notifications or in-app experiences as users pass by floor-specific products allows for location-aware engagement without the need for any additional hardware.
As the economy continues to open post-pandemic, location services will also serve as a crucial utility for consumers to safely navigate to and through the businesses they frequent.
Brands are also accelerating their brick-and-mortar strategies by partnering with larger retail stores on “store-within-a-store” concepts. For example, floor-level accuracy via NextNav Pinnacle will make it easier for customers to find DTC brands in multi-level stores like Target and Nordstrom.
“This partnership paves the way for new innovations in customer experience that will benefit retailers and consumers alike. Gimbal’s On-the-Way software and NextNav’s Pinnacle solution are complementary products for development teams who are looking to create frictionless experiences for their customers,” said Dan Hight, VP/GM for Data Partnerships at NextNav.
Read more in the recent article in Streetfight.