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Geolocation
Enhances E-Retail
W
HILE THE benefi ts to consumers of shop- Geographic awareness can have a variety of benefi ts.
ping online are obvious, there is also a benefi t Landing pages can be customized to suit potential visitors
to be gained by linking those customers to the from diff erent regions, as well as seasonal goods, depending
real world. Being online may resemble a “virtual experience,” on the time of year. However, features like this require a
but the physical world is still very real, and companies stand knowledge of where the user is at the moment of arrival on a
to gain by remaining mindful of this fact. Case in point: Th e website, even before they’ve off ered any personal information.
rising importance of geolocation. Th is is where geolocation soft ware comes in.
For a supplier, understanding the physical location of the Th e one bit of information collected from any online visi-
customer is fundamental to effi cient and successful ecom- tor is the IP address, which is the conduit through which said
merce. For example, if thousands of customers choose to visitor is accessing the Internet. All IP addresses are assigned
order handbags from a given supplier, this is only benefi cial to regional Internet registries (RIRs). Th ese RIRs assign the
to that supplier if the items can be effi ciently delivered from IP addresses to specifi c ISPs, large enterprises, government
a central depot to the thousands of diff erent locations. And, organizations, and so on. Because this information is public,
it must be cheaper than distributing to multiple stores and geolocation soft ware can then process it, enhance it with
selling over the counter. In some cases, it may be worthwhile related information (i.e. postal codes) and generate a service
to establish a link between an online customer and a related whereby website owners can locate the general physical loca-
physical store, perhaps by informing the customer of local tions of visitors. In the past, companies have purchased and
availability for products he or she is trying to order online. installed geolocation databases on their web servers, but
Th is practice allows the supplier to balance the benefi ts of this practice is being supplanted by the use of on-demand
online effi ciency with the need to have products stocked in- services that provide real-time lookup capabilities. With this
store. It can also give suppliers the ability to off er customers method, suppliers can send an IP address, and immediately
in-store pick-up of items ordered online. receive a coordinate.
Find other great ideas for running your business at:
www.wholesalecentral.com/wholesale–news
20 March 2010
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