AT&T Taps Placecast For Location-Based Shopping Alerts

AT&T is betting big on location-based shopping alerts through a partnership with Placecast. AT&T is debuting a branded ShopAlerts service, which will deliver special offers and discounts to consumers via their mobile phones when they are near a participating store or brand (initial brands include HP, KMart, and JetBlue).

The program is currently available to AT&T customers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco who have opted-in to receive Shop Alerts, but AT&T plans to roll the program out nationally by summertime and increase the number of participating brands.

All of this is powered by Placecast’s ShopAlerts, which are location-triggered mobile text messages sent from brands to consumers. Consumers can opt-in to receiving text messages in a variety of ways—at the store, online, via text-message, mobile websites or on Facebook.

Once the technology has been activated, consumers will be alerted when they are near a location that they are interested in or when the brand is offering sales and specials. ShopAlerts’ technology uses “geo-fences,” which are virtual boundaries that can be targeted via location-based marketing. Retailers can customize alerts to fit their brand and strategy.

This isn’t the first large-scale deal for Placecast. The company recently partnered with European carrier O2 to enable geo-fence marketing campaigns for a number of brands for the carrier’s users. And Placecast has licensed ShopAlerts to a number of retail partners, including American Eagle Outfitters and the North Face.

Crunchbase

• PLACECAST

Company: Placecast

Website: placecast.net

Launch Date: 2005

Funding: $8M

Placecast is a location-based digital advertising company that provides ShopAlerts, an opt-in marketing service via mobile devices designed to drive customers to specific physical spaces like retail stores. ShopAlerts is a white-label service that works automatically on any phone and does not require an app. Users opt-in to a given brand’s program and receive text messages on their phone with information, coupons and offers from places of interest around them. Placecast was founded in 2005 and is based in San...

→ Learn more