On any given day, your restaurant is packed to the gills. The locals rave about your food, and you’ve been mentioned on the local news. You’ve catered weddings, bar mitzvahs, and graduation parties. Customers from far and wide adore your signature butter-infused, rosemary chicken.
Next month, you’ll be opening up a second branch two cities away. Your customers are thrilled, but your euphoria easily dwarfs theirs. Looking forward, you know that you’ve got to keep brand awareness at the forefront of your marketing efforts.
Or maybe you already have 10, 20, or more restaurants. On the other hand, you may not even be in the restaurant business. Whatever your industry, the right store locator software could exponentially increase your conversion rates. Here are 5 must-have elements for one:
Mobile-friendly, With Outstanding Consumer Analytics
According to a Zenith report, mobile device usage will constitute more than 70% of internet consumption in 2018 and beyond. The report also states that global smartphone ownership will grow to 66% in 2018. Meanwhile, a Qubit study reports that almost 50% of respondents would make purchases if their browsing experience was “easier or faster.”
Most importantly, almost 70% of consumers browse online before they head to a brick-and-mortar store. Thus, the best store locators track crucial locator analytics such as click-stream data, conversion rates, and user behavior. Store locators that are also Google Analytics-integrated can provide greater insight into consumer behavior.
The best store locator shows where your customers are coming from (i.e. what websites they last visited) and whether they clicked on outbound links to your store’s landing pages.
In 2012, RadioShack used Google Analytics to determine that 85% of interested consumers who browsed its store locator made a store purchase. Thus, the right store locator is one that provides detailed consumer analytics: this, in turn, allows you to craft effective mobile marketing campaigns that increase your conversion rates.
Superior Geo-coding Capabilities And Ability To Serve Content From A Global CDN
In today’s business climate, accurate geo-positioning is imperative to business viability. Our on-demand economy has famously fueled a generation of “right now” consumers. Here’s Google with some sobering statistics:
- 53% abandon sites that take more than 3 seconds to load.
- Since 2015, travel-related searches for “tonight” and “today” have grown to over 150% on mobile.
- Nearly 30% of all searches relate to a location.
- Nearly 75% of smartphone users will purchase from companies that customize information to their location.
Thus, the store locator experience must be fast, seamless, and accurate: geocoders that assign latitude and longitude measurements show exactly where your business is located. Another plus, automatic geo-location recognition, allows you to see where consumers are searching from.
The best store locators include a search demand map, which reveals pockets of increased, continuing, or unmet product demand among a multiplicity of zip codes. If you can discover where your potential customers reside, you will have a marketing advantage over similar businesses that use generic store locator software. For an added advantage, choose store locator software that links to a navigation app such as Google Maps. Help your customers find the fastest, traffic-free route to your store.
Also in line with today’s consumer needs, the best store locators serve content from a global CDN (content delivery network).Why is a CDN necessary? Essentially, a CDN is a distributed network of servers that deliver internet content to users based on geographic location.
So, when a user clicks on a link, the nearest CDN server responds to the request. The main benefit of utilizing CDNs is that they reduce network latency times (the period it takes for servers to receive and process website requests). Lower latency times translate to faster site load times.
So, the best store locators allow you to deliver the right information, at the right time, and at optimal delivery rates.
Translation And Language Selector Capabilities, With Country-Specific Requirements
The best store locator software displays content in the user’s own language. Additionally, users should also be able to see their own language labeled in their native tongue. For example, Spanish would be labeled as Español, and Mandarin would be labeled as Pǔtōnghuà (普通话).
Your customers should also be able to access country-specific search features. For example, locations in Canada should use Canadian dollars (rather than the US dollar), while locations in Saudi Arabia do not include pork product offerings. For the latter, halal (permissible or lawful) products should be an important search feature. Other countries may list distances in kilometers rather than in miles; the best store locator software allows you to switch between the two.
Clear Links That Denote Clickable Phone Numbers
Many store locators include the phone numbers of the listed establishment. But, how many are clickable? In today’s busy world, auto-dialing is a necessary convenience. Clickable phone numbers give potential customers an easy way to call your business, especially if they are driving.
In turn, this increases the level of interaction between you and your customers. So, why does this matter? Engaged customers whose needs are being met tend to spend more than the average consumer. According to Gallup, engaged customers (those who are emotionally and psychologically attached to your brand) spend 23% more than others. So, clickable phone numbers can effectively lead to higher revenues for your business!
Responsive/Adaptive Layout, With Rich Location Details
The best store locator software is responsive in nature. This means that they can detect when customers switch from desktop computers to mobile devices. In response, they will adjust to accommodate the smaller screen sizes and lower resolutions.
With increased mobile usage, responsive websites are more important than ever. Flexible grid layouts allow mobile users to look up information about your business with a minimum of fuss. Fewer and re-sized graphics also minimize load times on smartphones.
Meanwhile, rich location details provide important information about store hours and product offerings for each of your stores.
Why MetaLocator Leaves The Competition In The Dust
Like what you read above? Our company provides the above features and more. In fact, with over 300 features, our product is the most feature-rich store locator software on the market today. It’s also cloud-managed and global in reach: we have customers in over 80+ countries depending on us to power the store locators on their websites.
Our SaaS (software-as-a-service) offering is easy to install, indexed by the most popular search engines, and customer-centric. We’re so sure you’ll love MetaLocator that we’ll give you a 30-day free trial to experience the same satisfaction our customers enjoy. So, sign up already, and begin your journey to success NOW.