AT&T To Send 'ShopAlerts' Text Ads To Phones Based On Location

NEW YORK — In a first for a wireless carrier, AT&T Inc. said Monday that it will use its phones' location-sensing ability to target text ads with coupons and other offers to participating subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

Kmart, part of Sears Holdings Corp., is one of the chains that have signed up for "ShopAlerts by AT&T." That means AT&T could send discount offers to subscribers who are close to a Kmart store.

AT&T is only able to locate its subscribers to within a mile or so, so its ability to sense that subscribers are in a receptive mood for the offer – like when they're heading to shop – is limited. The service locates subscribers based on which cell towers communicate with their phones, rather than using the more accurate Global Positioning System chips that many phones have. This means ShopAlerts will work with any phone, not just smart phones that can run third-party applications.

JetBlue Airways Corp. is another participant in the program and could use AT&T's service to send promotions when passengers are approaching an airport. Other participants are Hewlett-Packard Co., SC Johnson, Kibbles 'n Bits, Nature's Recipe and the "Got Milk?" campaign.

AT&T subscribers who want to get the ads need to sign up on the company's website. For now, they won't have an option to choose what type of offers to receive, according to AT&T. According to the service, subscribers will get a maximum of four messages per week.

Sending ads to phones based on their location is a long-held dream of retailers, but the technology has been slow to emerge. It's difficult to tap into the GPS chips of phones, because they drain battery life. Some companies that provide location-oriented apps do sell ads.

In August, a startup called Shopkick Inc. announced a program with big retailers such as Macy's Inc. and Best Buy Inc. to provide customers with coupons when they "check in" to a store by firing up an app on their smart phone, which senses a short-range inaudible signal specific to each store.

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Online:

http://www.att.com/shopalerts

Comments

[lbsgeek]

02:51 AM on 03/03/2011

LOCAID has been providing the location for Placecast ShopAlerts for a year since the NorthFace campaign - http://www.loc-aid.com/ShopAlerts_powered_by_LOC-AID

[GeekHillbilly]

02:36 PM on 03/02/2011

Well,since the AT&T Razor I use has been hacked(By me BTW I wanted Star Trek LCARS sounds) I can stop them at least oin my phone.

[iloopmobile]

12:31 PM on 03/02/2011

Great post!

Mobile Coupons provide huge opportunity for retailers to create engaging and measurable experiences on mobile devices.

A mobile commerce survey by IAB, IMRG and AIME found that 41% of retailers expect to have a transactional app or mobile site within the next year, jumping to 65% within two years. Today, mobile campaigns that are fully integrated with ecommerce and physical stores are critical for retailers.

Typically, consumers are invited via multiple marketing channels—such as email, in-store promotion, mobile messaging, Facebook and Twitter—to opt in to mobile initiatives that drive awareness. As the retailer grows its mobile database, this process offers the opportunity to learn more about customers’ preferences, and understand their purchasing patterns and influence.

Best,
Virginie @iloop Mobile

[Waterphoneman]

11:40 AM on 03/02/2011

Money rules the world and AT&T is onboard to prove it.

[anthonytaurus]

07:03 AM on 03/02/2011

"AT&T subscribers who want to get the ads need to sign up on the company's website."

Fair enough! You don't want the ads, you don't have to lift a finger. But, they may try to force it on people in the future because I don't think anyone would want to sign up for these kinds of alerts. As long as there is an opt out option, I am good.

Personally, I took texting off of my phone. It's an overpriced and severely overrated service. Wanna send me a "short message" or a "media message" - email, instant messenger, etc. If you're phone can't do that.... we're on the 11th year the new century... you're a bore.. GET WIT IT!!

Excuse me, I'm gonna go share music through BBM lol

[bkerensa]

05:35 AM on 03/02/2011

AT&T is going to fail

[LynnW49]

08:19 PM on 03/01/2011

I threw my cell phone in a drawer years ago, but as I understand things now, you are billed for *sending* a text message. So I'd want every one of those text message charges offset if the carrier sent me a text message. In other words, charge them for texting you.

[mateoconifer]

05:43 PM on 03/01/2011

without my permission? typical misuse of my private domain: my phone.

[bluguy8]

05:12 PM on 03/01/2011

who wants this crap.

[curmudgeon98]

03:17 PM on 03/01/2011

Oh, Goody,Goody......NOT

Another reason to not do AT&T or ditch it if you got it.

[GunnyJ]

01:48 PM on 03/01/2011

More crap!

[AStranger]

01:46 PM on 03/01/2011

Definitely sounds like the fact that it is limited to being within 1 mile of the store will limit how useful this is to approximately 0.

It had better have an opt out feature.

[amirtalai]

02:17 PM on 03/01/2011

It sounds like it's actually an opt-IN thing. "AT&T subscribers who want to get the ads need to sign up on the company's website."

[AStranger]

02:50 PM on 03/01/2011

Even better!

[Tom95134]

01:08 PM on 03/01/2011

Interesting use of technology. I'm not saying I agree with it but when you think it through it means that the location of your cell phone must be accurate to within a city block or the ads would be meaningless. It also means that if they so choose, they should be able to determine which ads you would be interested in based on some kind of a "profile".

Finally, the use of cell phones as part of the product purchase process is being studied and is in use in some countries. Once you go down this path it means that these text messages could be product type or brand specific based on previous purchases. It also could be linked to what you might see on electronic advertising screens as you walk buy.

[Sizzmo]

01:00 PM on 03/01/2011

Like AT&T wont charge you secretly to receive these messages... give me a break

[Andy Manor]

12:59 PM on 03/01/2011

I find it odd that AT&T is able to send out these text messages, but they are lobbying congress because they do not want to send out text messages alerting people when they are close to their minutes, text message caps, or data use caps.

[Rich Bronson]

01:07 PM on 03/01/2011

CAN and WILL - two very different things.

[J0E1]

04:56 PM on 03/01/2011

These text messages bring in revenue.  The other text messages prevent revenue from overages.  There is a common denominator here.