Technology has changed the way consumers behave. And, to be successful, it is a good idea for retailers to be aware of these new ways of interacting and shopping—and to adjust strategies appropriately.
Some major consumer trends are shaping the way that retailers do business. Mobile has become the dominant platform for accessing the web, and consumers are extremely informed and information-hungry. Customers are also assertive shoppers, knowing how to price-compare and then swiftly act on the information. People expect information to be up-to-date and accessible 24/7, and increasingly, Americans are searching based on location, thanks to mobile devices that are location-aware.
Consumer habits increase importance of accuracy in listings
When out and about, consumers searching for locations on mobile phones is a ubiquitous practice—where’s the nearest Mexican restaurant, department store or gas station? In order to get the most out of consumer interest, retailers are regularly checking in and making sure the listings for their businesses are accurate. The address, business hours and phone number, for instance, need to be up-to-date so that if someone stops by or calls, they’ll be able to come in or get someone on the phone.
Going even further, once these consumers find what they’re looking for, newer mobile technologies can be used to send them location-based promotions or discounts, too.
In short: technology surrounding retail locations online is advancing, and it’s more important than ever for retailers to keep up. One way retailers can keep up is by ensuring that their listings are up-to-date and accurate.
Getting help with listings
Taking on the task of ensuring listing accuracy can be a big endeavor—with numerous search engines, publishers and maps, each listing would need to be updated individually with different login information. This would work out to be an intensely time-consuming task on its own, but thankfully, there are some solutions. Working with a partner or a listing management officer can help, for instance.
Listings management solutions that ensure retail listings from thousands of gas stations across the United States are accurate, up-to-date and syndicated across leading online publishers can help with in convenience store segment. Listing accuracy is especially important in the fuel and c-store industries, because two brands can be part of the same location—fuel brand and c-store brand—and precision accuracy is needed to ensure that customers get to the exact location they’re looking for, no matter what digital map they’re looking it.
One solution, GasBuddy Business Pages Listings Management, is the outcome of a partnership with Navads, a global marketing platform that manages local listings. Navads has partnerships with different listings partners such as Google, Waze and Apple, which rely on correct listings information.
Previously, listing information could include basic profile information, but much of the information was crowd-sourced by users rather than provided by the retailer directly. According to GasBuddy, 70% of all online listings are wrong, and 50% of users lose trust when listings are wrong. When a retailer submits its address and directory information, GasBuddy and Navads check everything to ensure complete listing accuracy, as well as manually drop the pins to ensure they’re correctly placed on maps.
With updated methodology and more efficient tracking and listing technology available, retailers can glean additional benefits. By making your business easy to find, the listing will attract new consumers (who could become loyal repeat customers).
Besides consumer reaction, though, there is another incentive for companies to up their game in the information department: the search engines are watching. It’s common knowledge that Google, the grandfather of search engines, tracks people’s locations. One way it does this is by analyzing the entities of nearby locations. If gas stations and convenience stores provide updated listings, they are more likely to have their businesses appear in “near me” searches. Beyond the potential for more traffic and customers, accurate listings improve overall search rankings on search engines—retailers with accurate listings will show up higher in searches.
It’s easier than ever for retailers to ensure their information is correct—improving their chances to be found by a tech-savvy customer base that is eager to find what they are looking for in close proximity.
Updating location information and ensuring customers can find a location when they need to is a great business move—for retailers and consumers alike. Learn more about GasBuddy’s new partnership at https://go.gasbuddy.com/listingmanagement.
This post is sponsored by GasBuddy