ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Retailers should tap mobile media to integrate the customer journey

BOSTON - An executive from PGA Tour Superstore at eTail East 2016 discussed how retailers are merging content with commerce in the mobile space by leveraging data to serve relevant campaigns, reflecting a shift in consumer behavior. 

During the panel session, The State of Transformation and Disruption Within the Retail Industry, the executive emphasized how important it is for retailers to change their game and attempt to mix marketing with retail on digital devices because consumers no longer think of the industry as segmented and the opportunity is huge. Sports brands have significant possibilities to engage with users on mobile, due to the loyalty the industry as a whole sees from consumers, and have an obligation to push for disruption and innovating experiences. 

?Sports has a very unique opportunity, when you play a sport generally you are pretty passionate about it,? said Matt Corey, chief marketing officer at PGA Tour Superstore. ?So the opportunity to go beyond just selling products and prices is huge. 

?We are just getting started,? he said. ?We actually just sat down with our IT team and mapped out all the touch points where customers interact with our brand and there were little pockets and little islands where the data never came back. "

Driving innovation 
PGA Tour Superstore has a unique opportunity to tap into a very loyal fan base, because usually those who play a sport a very faithful and often complete repeat purchasing. Mr. Corey believes that PGA has a real opportunity to connect purchasing data with marketing content via mobile and digital device. 

For instance, if an individual is shopping for new golf clubs, the brand should be able to serve that person a video on how to improve their game through PGA?s loyalty application. 

However, PGA and the industry as a whole have a long way to go. Mr. Corey explained that the retailer and its IT department walked through every touch point that a consumer has with its brand, but was missing a lot of key data points. 

?To me the definition of disruption is every inside this room lobbying inside their building for what they want for the future because that is what we have to do,? Mr. Corey said. ?We are the ones that have to lobby for the next level.?

Interactive touch points
Another executive from Choxi.com noted that consumers interact with brands on such a multitude of platforms and places, there is quit a lot of data lost. For instance, if a retailer claims that 20 percent of sales come from mobile, if it shut down its mobile platform much more than 20 percent of sales would be lost. 

"When you are trying to say 20 percent of my revenue is coming from mobile, try shutting down your mobile," said Vishal Agarwal, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Choxi.com. "I am sure that more than 20 percent of sales will be affected. 

"The reason is that people make their decisions across channel be it online or offline or mobile or on a messenger bot," he said.