Canadian Tire will be among the first retailers in North America to test proximity-based retailer information “cards” in Google’s context-aware dashboard app, Google Now.
Canadian Tire’s cards work on the same principle as the rest of Google Now’s context-aware content. The app serves up information and calls-to-action that it thinks will be most relevant to the user based on their location, time of day and past preferences.
For example, in the morning, that might mean helping them plot out their quickest commute. At lunch time, it might mean showing links to restaurants within walking distance. And now, if they’re within 100 metres of a Canadian Tire store, it may mean they’ll see cards with information about sales at that location, their balance of Canadian Tire money or store hours.
Example of Canadian Tire card in Google Now
Google is testing its new In-Store Cards with a handful of retailers in Canada and the U.S. Canadian Tire’s new cards will be available at all locations across Canada, though users won’t always necessarily see them. A user that dismisses a card because they don’t think its content is relevant won’t see it again, and a user that’s already dismissed a lot of similar cards may not see it pop-up at all. (Google says the product is still in beta, and it has yet to work out the details of how frequently its cards will appear.)
“Over the past few years, Canadian Tire has committed to a path of innovation rooted in technology and developed a nimble, test and learn culture,” said TJ Flood, Canadian Tire senior vice-president of marketing, in an e-mail. “The Google Now store card, which acts like a mobile Canadian Tire storefront, is a perfect example of how we’re reacting to the digital disruption by executing smart programs that engage active families and grow our business.”
According to Google’s research, context-aware services have been gaining steam with Canadian consumers and represent a major opportunity for retailers looking to get in front of them at the moment when their content will be most relevant.
In a retail presentation in Toronto last Wednesday, Google researchers said that usage of search terms that include “near me” has doubled in the past year in Canada, while mobile shopping searches have have increased 115% globally.
While context-aware technology is still nascent and not always reliable, services like Google Now can help users quickly and easily find the mobile functions they’re looking for, often before they consciously think about it. Google sees that as an opportunity for retailers to get the attention of potential customers nearby, in a less intrusive way than a banner ad or pop-up. The principle is the same as Google Maps retailer and restaurant pins.
Google has also been working to integrate bluetooth low-energy mobile beacons into Google Now, which will mean retailers and other businesses can trigger in-store cards at a much more granular level — potentially right down to the aisle or product the customer’s perusing. While lots of retailers are currently experimenting with beacons, the biggest barrier is often that users have to have downloaded a retailer or brand’s app in order to receive notifications. With a heavily subscribed third-party service like Google Now set up to listen for beacons, they’ll be able to access a much broader segment of potential customers (in Google Now’s case, more than 10 million users globally).
