Technology recognises normal ads without QR codes or similar for instant purchases
Powa Technologies has launched a new advertisement recognition trigger that brings the offline advertising world to life, boosting return and transforming customer engagement.
The technology, integrated with m-commerce app PowaTag, recognises normal ads without QR codes or similar.
PowaTag gives shoppers the power to complete purchases anywhere, anytime, using a variety of triggers such as listening to watermarks hidden in broadcast audio or scanning URLs embedded on social media, iBeacons, JavaScript and NFC technology.
Once an advertisement is scanned, the app will find the product and consumers can buy in just three seconds, using pre-entered payment and delivery information. This innovation creates a glide path to growth, transforming the fortunes of brands who are struggling to convert adverts into purchases, claimed Powa.
This comes at a critical time for businesses, as spending on advertising in the UK continues to spiral, growing at twice the rate of the economy; ad spend is predicted to reach £20.7 billion in 2016 [Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report].
Christmas advertising eats up 70% of the £5 billion fourth quarter 2015 ad spend, but with retail profits under pressure, pumping money into advertising is a risky game [UK Advertising Association]. Yet, noted Powa, businesses make this investment without a clear measure of its impact on sales.
Powa’s development provides the capacity to measure return on investment (ROI). By linking the transaction directly to the advert, PowaTag gives deep insight into ROI, even down to the level of highlighting the most productive place for an individual advert. For the first time, brands can break through the anonymity barrier which obscures offline shoppers, developing truly personalised customer engagement.
For UK businesses, whose ad spend rose at a rate of 5.8% over the first half of 2015, making them the third highest ad spenders globally, an accurate science of the influence of ads is an unparalleled development [Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report].
Dan Wagner, CEO at Powa Technologies, commented: “There are a number of barriers which usually get in the way between seeing an advert and purchasing the product; your local store might be out of stock, or you might get interrupted as you go through online checkout, or you might simply forget about the product. By enabling consumers to buy directly through the advert in seconds, brands can be confident that their advertising budget is delivering real returns.
“For the very first time, brands can measure the true impact of their campaigns, tracking which individual advert promotes the most sales and amongst which demographics. PowaTag can collect the data which says an advert in Vogue converted into more sales than a billboard at Piccadilly Circus, or the insight which says an individual consumer really likes red shoes but isn’t so interested in black ones. Given the tremendous expenditure which advertising swallows up, these metrics are an invaluable means to develop directed advertising and personalised customer relationships,” he continued.
