Using Mobile as a Store-finding Tool

Paint manufacturer Crown Paints has turned to mobile technology to help solve a problem that was potentially costing the company money in lost sales. The company’s main customer base consists of professional painters and decorators. As these tradesmen tend to cover a wide area, they may not know where their nearest Crown Decorator Centre is located. Crown needed an easy and convenient way of allowing the customer to find their nearest Centre while they are out and about. The answer lay in Radius, a mobile technology platform designed by mobile agency Wapfly for exactly this type of situation.
To find their nearest Crown Decorator Centre, the customer texts the word CROWN to the shortcode, 87766. The Radius platform detects the mobile user’s location and responds with a text message telling the customer the location of the nearest Centre. An option is also available for the customer to then phone the branch directly in order to check or pre-order stock.
“This type of technology has the potential to drastically alter the way that we communicate with customers, allowing businesses to reach the customer directly and fine tune any marketing specifically to them,” says Wapfly Technical Director, David Hague. “There is also the opportunity to generate extra revenue from this form of marketing, though Crown chose to charge their customers nothing for the service. The only cost to the customer is the price of the text message.”