How Can UK Retailers Use Pokemon Go To Lure Shoppers Instore?

Last month saw footfall drop 2.8%, the sharpest decline since February 2015 and with Brexit still a consumer concern, could the Go Pokémon frenzy be just the “lure” UK retailers need to act on to get people out and back into the high street?

Whether you believe Pokémon Go to be a hyped passing fade or the next big thing in retail marketing, what it has done for certain is bridge the digital and physical worlds using technology.

What can independent and national retailers gain from this?

Over the last three weeks since the launch of Pokémon Go in the UK three major things stand out:

• Opportunity for low cost online and offline blended marketing to drive footfall.
• Consumers love location-based experiences opening up an opportunity for retailers to extend brand experience into location-based instore experiences.
• Consumer’s acceptance of Augmented Reality (AR) and a market ripe for instore product AR to come into fruition.

Merging the digital and physical world

Only a few weeks ago a whole demographic of twenty somethings were busy participating in the heated social media Brexit debate. Less than four weeks later, these lucrative and savvy millennials are busy chasing augmented reality characters in the real world and spending an average of forty three minutes on the App a day – exceeding all other social Apps.

Pokémon Go has shown the immense appetite for fully merged offline and online experiences via mobile for the millennial shopper, which you could say mirrors to some degree the thirst for omni-channel shopping experiences.

These highly valuable consumers operate in an incredibly merging online and physical world, one that challenges retailers but also represents big opportunities for those willing to adapt and think creatively.

Mobile bridges the gap between physical and digital, acting as our constant all important best friend and the most versatile communication channel we’ve ever had. Like Uber and Tinder, the critical success lies in its location technology.

Short term gains

Pokémon Go has massive potential for retailers in the short term including quick win footfall initiatives such as:

• Ticketed Pokémon Events
• Pokémon Clubs
• Family Experiences
• Data collection
• Social media viral marketing and conversation drivers

Longer term gains

In the longer term, the impact is likely to be of a much bigger scale as augmented reality is brought into the instore shopping experience to merge and exceed the online and instore experiences.

Pokémon Go maybe the catalyst needed to spark retailer imagination into the AR world. The consumer is ready but are UK retailers?

Whilst many retailers are probably turning a blind eye to Pokémon Go as a commercial marketing tool and more focused on the hazard of a wandering public gazing at their mobiles, Pokémon Go does need thinking about in terms of how it can win footfall and customer engagement.

Location and AR are still untapped

Pokémon Go’s popularity lies in its use of augmented reality and Google’s mapping data. Real-world points of interest are marked on the game’s maps and can yield points and Pokémon.

Since its launch in the US, some enterprising American retailers have capitalised on their status as points of interest and signposted nearby Pokémon, applied to become PokeStops and purchased “Lures”, resulting in greater footfall.

When combined with social media, text, email, customer clubs and ticketed events, Pokémon Go could have enormous scope for independent, large retailers and charities to extend customer engagement and collect data, drive footfall, launch promotions, create social conversation and create location experiences when driven through an integrated cloud retail management system.

To date, it is still largely unknown how Nianto plan to commercialise Pokémon Go on a global scale from things such as PokeStop sponsoring and “Lures” and how they will operate for not-for-profit organisations and small businesses supporting the community.

Retailers and not-for-profit organisation both in the US and the UK have already applied to become a PokeStop which there is currently no cost for, with three British churches already accepted. There are murmurs that some notable brands are already in conversations with Nianto regarding sponsorship to create PokéStop at their sites.

The chances are that it will only be a matter of time before the commercials get expensive for retailers but right now, there seems to be ways to cashin on Pokémon Go at no or low cost. The old proverb the early bird catches the worm could be highly appropriate in this case.

What we do know is that Pokémon Go has proven the UK’s desire and acceptance of augmented reality and those retailers that jump on the Pokémon Go first will be the ones to truly maximise on the commercial opportunities it presents within the millennial consumer sector.

Just as brand experiences have become a vital part of online and instore retail it is looking highly likely that location-based experiences will become part of the merging digital and physical retail landscape as the millennials grow into a blended world of one experience.