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Walsrode App: City relies on Multi-Retailer App
Press Information
Hamburg, April 13, 2022.
New Dimension in City Marketing: Walsrode App displays retail offers location-based on smartphones
One for all, all for one: With the “Walsrode App” for the city of Walsrode, visitors and residents will soon receive individual offers from local retailers as well as information about events and attractions directly on their smartphone. The Multi-Retailer App bundles information, services and coupons from participating retailers based on location and directly at the user’s location. The implementation of the app was initiated by Gronemedia, the publisher of the Walsroder Zeitung, and the city of Walsrode. On March 31, the “Walsrode App” was launched – and is now intended to build a bridge to stationary retail.
The user parks in downtown Walsrode – and is informed that her trusted hairdresser still has appointments available. The cinema visit is already planned – and just before entering, the user’s smartphone reports: “Today two tickets for the price of one.”
These are just two of countless examples of how analogue and digital experiences merge in the “Walsrode App”. Based on position data, visitors and residents receive push notifications about offers from participating retailers as well as information about events, retailers and shops, and restaurants in their vicinity.
For a shopping experience on site with added value
Many different shops and restaurants, a wide range of goods: This is what makes city centers attractive for strolling. But the share of e-commerce is growing and making it increasingly difficult to meet customer needs in stationary retail.
One answer, also for city marketing, are digital solutions like the Multi-Retailer App from locandis. It guides visitors via smartphone to attractions and offers and can be used for playful exploration of the city center in addition to delivering coupons, messages and invitations to city festivals, for example.
The daily information and offers are maintained by the editorial staff of the Walsroder Zeitung via a separate web frontend and sent out regularly via the app. In addition, users have access to background information, opening hours and price information. “With the “Walsrode App” we create a completely new shopping experience. The app builds a bridge between the smartphone and local retail,” says initiator and Gronemedia managing director Clemens Röhrbein.
Location Based Services: Online and offline merged
“The location- or target group-specific information of this new city marketing tool reaches visitors and residents exactly where they are,” says Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof. Since 2018, the locandis managing directors and founders Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof and Stefan Brinkhoff have been active in the fields of real-time location systems, so-called Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS), and Location-Based Services. Their idea: to enable visitors to access relevant information based on location and personal preferences. The users of the app could receive the messages either via a GPS connection in the city center, via Bluetooth using the locandis locators in the shops, or directly without the influence of the location.
Interested parties can download the app for free in the Google Play Store and in the App Store. It strictly adheres to data protection regulations and a multi-level opt-in procedure protects user data from data misuse during registration in the app. But even without providing personal data, the “Walsrode App” can be used. “Users then have access to offers and deals that are released for unregistered users. With a registration, however, they secure unrestricted access to all exclusive offers,” explains Stefan Brinkhoff.
Strengthening local trade
“Our goal is for the app to develop into a joint digital customer card from Walsroders for Walsroders,” says Clemens Röhrbein. For him, the advantages of this solution are clear. “Especially for smaller retailers, the app is a good opportunity to join a kind of cashback system, which due to high costs, such as with Payback, is otherwise only interesting for large companies.” In addition, the “Walsrode App” is intended to support stationary retail: “We don’t want a discount slingshot, but a small trigger in the moment of truth that brings about the transaction, the purchase.”