More than a quarter (26 percent) of brick and mortar retailers are, “definitely planning to participate,” in an online deal program in the next six months, according to the Local Commerce Monitor (LCM) survey, conducted by market researchers, BIA/Kelsey. Among those responding, 15 percent said they were “very likely,” and 11 percent admitted they were “extremely likely” to offer such a promotion. The Virginia based research firm considers these findings to be strong evidence of small businesses’ interest in daily deals through online marketers. Furthermore, the study revealed that third party online marketing companies such as Groupon and LivingSocial have capitalized on the opportunity to deliver deals to customers, while at the same time helping independent retailers reach new audiences. BIA/Kelsey went on to state that as a result, local online revenue is projected to reach at least $3.6 billion by the end of this year.
“To date, local targeting has not been widely adopted by SMBs or national brands,” states Jed Williams, analyst and program director of social local media at BIA/Kelsey. “However, the paradigm is moving to performance, with Facebook and other networks focused on improving format creativity and consumer targeting to boost rates and drive deeper ad engagement. We expect smaller businesses, especially, to learn how to leverage these features to optimize results.”
LCM Wave 16 (Q3/2012) survey results were released at the SMB Digital Marketing Conference in Chicago recently. In its announcement, BIA/Kelsey revealed that online deals will become a mainstay for small businesses focused on building an effective marketing strategy. The release of the survey results coincides with the declaration from Groupon that it has officially started the process of developing its international clout, as the company is now exploring deals that would cross borders. Groupon leaders are hopeful that the investigation of foreign markets will invigorate the mom and pop sector of America’s companies.