Shoe sellers can dust off a pair of unsold sneakers and keep them on the shelf until they sell but businesses like grocery stores dont have that luxury Instead they must keep a tight focus on moving goods out the doors especially items with an expiration date As such grocers are turning to old retail standbys sales and discounts to help spur purchases and for good reason One 2017 survey found 385 percent of grocery shoppers would buy more if given coupons and more than 39 percent would buy sooner Sales and promotions wont attract customers if consumers dont know they exist though and many stores are now working to find improved tech-fueled ways to better promote their discounted goods Nearly half of surveyed consumers told PYMNTS they had used a grocery stores app regularly or occasionally last year with most reporting they did so to get better deals discounts and price comparisons Michael Klein director of industry strategy retail travel and CPG consumer packaged goods at Adobe Systems believes Intelligence of Things IoT may provide a stronger solution yet In a recent interview he explained that properly utilizing new tech could help retailers that rely on a brick-and-mortar presence to better connect with customers reduce inventory inefficiencies and increase revenue Zeroing In On Shopper Segments Any company planning a new promotion wants that campaign to connect with the right customers specifically those who are most likely to take advantage of it Thats often easier said than done however Hundreds of customers walk through grocery stores doors every week each with different purchasing plans and shopping habits Discerning which of these is most likely to use a promotional price to stock up on a particular item is often like finding a needle in a human haystack Klein believes combining in-store IoT offerings with analytics that help with discounting and other marketing campaigns could provide a solution This could aid retailers with time-sensitive inventory in reaching the consumers who are most receptive to a promotion hopefully ensuring they act soon and buy before the expiration date To that end the Adobe team is currently beta testing a cloud-based platform to help businesses with large brick-and-mortar footprints provide customers more targeted in-store marketing and services This would allow retailers to identify the customer profiles most likely to take advantage of particular offers going beyond one-size-fits-all couponing campaigns to send in-store promotions to customers in the middle of shopping the time when theyre most likely to make or add to a purchase Adobes platform taps into a stores existing customer relationship management CRM system and technology such as beacons radio-frequency identification RFID and Wi-Fi triangulation among other options Klein explained It compiles information from these sensors with consumer data from the store or its supplier partners to identify fine-grained customer segments such as shoppers with two children and a preference for sweets or those who always purchase organic produce Were leveraging a variety of sensors that are available in the marketplace and we acquire the information from those signals and sensors and bring them into the Adobe Experience Cloud Klein said With our analytics and optimization capabilities were now able to leverage that data for better segmentation Retailers can then send in-store promotions to the customers who are most likely to find the offers relevant and compelling Customers opt-in by signing up with the stores app allowing the retailer to send promotions via notifications or SMS messages and detect where they are in the store If it has an in-store digital display a retailer could even feature promotional offers when a participating consumer approaches Through opt-in we can recognize a user in the physical space and then through other mechanisms such as our campaign orchestration tools whether through mobile app or SMS mechanism we can communicate with the consumer he added In addition to grocery stores big-box retailers and apparel sellers other segments have shown interest in the software Klein said Telecom firms looking to improve in-store customer engagement at their many locations have too Trading Privacy For Promotions Grocers and other retailers collect and analyze a wide information set to target the right customers This often includes consumers purchasing histories browsing behaviors neighborhoods birthdays and household income ranges among other factors While some consumers are wary of privacy violations Klein said most show a general willingness to trade information in exchange for a service they find valuable Theres sensitivity but the data has shown us that somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of consumers are willing to share their information to receive a valuable experience in some way shape or form Klein said That could be in the form of discounts special access events services all the different mechanisms and nuances that drive customer loyalty The trick for retailers is to recognize where consumers place their boundaries When Adobe was demonstrating its solution several years ago it envisioned retailers using it to recognize customers as they entered and immediately sending staff to greet them There came a recognition that customers did not want such as service and attention pushed on them though and they would rather it be made available to be called upon if and when they wanted it Weve gone a different direction where we now allow the consumer to be in control and retailers to be a little more passive Klein explained Were not having an army of store associates accost you and try to sell you something when you break the barrier of the front door Its about asking How do we use technology to assist with the customer journey rather than intrude on it and then allowing consumers when theyre ready to raise their hands Tapping Into Grocery Tech Theres an even bigger hurdle that grocers must clear if they hope to implement IoT innovations however Grocery represents a complicated business that is typically not very well-suited for innovation which makes matters more difficult for solutions providers Grocers also tend to have slim operating margins making investment in new tech risky Amazon Go s camera-based approach is too expensive for most Klein noted and though applying RFID tags to CPGs can effectively track products it also eats up profits If it costs 004 to 007 for an RFID tag to go onto a product that only costs 1 or 2 that could blow up the whole profit margin structure he noted Flexible solutions can tap into the technology Wi-Fi and beacons among other items already present in the store environment though Grocers may be playing tech catch-up and therefore forced to be more judicial about where they spend their dollars but many are realizing the need to invest in data Klein said Those investments will likely become even more crucial as IoT innovation continues to progress in the coming years Answering consumer needs will increasingly mean helping them easily acquire the items they want and at desirable discounts In-store sensors and data analysis platforms will provide retailers the understanding they need to keep offers relevant and compelling and keep customers shopping with them too Retailers that dont embrace IoT might continue to find themselves throwing expiring inventory out the door and potential revenue along with it