A digital card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet can appear on the lock screen when the customer is near your shop. You add the shop’s address, and the phone decides on its own whether and when the card shows up. It’s a bonus, not a guarantee, and you only control part of it.
Here is how it works, what you can write yourself, how iPhone differs from Android and how to get the most out of it without promising too much.
How does it work?
You enter one or more locations for the card, for example the shop’s address. The locations travel with the card to the customer’s phone. The phone’s operating system then compares the locations with where the phone is, and can show the card on the lock screen. Fidelia doesn’t send the customer’s position anywhere. It’s the phone that does the comparing.
The customer can turn the feature off in their settings, and if she does, nothing happens.
The difference between Apple and Google
Apple Wallet. You can add a short text that appears on the lock screen, and the distance is set to about 100 m from the shop. But iOS decides whether the card is shown. Apple promises nothing, and it can sometimes fail to appear.
Google Wallet. The locations are stored on the card, and Google decides the distance and when the card is shown. You can’t write your own text or change the radius.
What can you promise?
Promise nothing. Don’t write in the shop that the customer will always get a reminder. Write something along the lines of the card sometimes appearing on the lock screen when you’re nearby. A customer who doesn’t see a reminder won’t be disappointed if you never promised one.
What suits well, and what suits less?
Reminders near the shop work best where many people walk past and an extra nudge can make a difference: a café on a pedestrian street, a bakery on the way to work, a shop in a shopping centre. Where the customer already passes several times a week it feels especially natural.
It suits less well for shops far from other routes, where nobody passes by chance. Then the customer needs another reason to come, and an ordinary message, see push notifications without annoying customers, is a better tool.
How do you set it up?
In Fidelia you do it in the dashboard under locations. You search for your shop, and the location is added to the card. You can add up to ten locations, for example if you have several shops. The feature is included in Pro, which costs 599 kr a month excluding VAT, see the pricing page. Read more under features.
Summary
Reminders near the shop are a bonus that sometimes gives an extra nudge. The phone decides, Apple lets you write a text and Google doesn’t. Promise nothing, combine with ordinary notifications and see it as a complement. The free 14-day trial is enough to see how it feels in your own shop.