Some of Australia's leading fashion brands, including General Pants, Diesel, Superdry, Lorna Jane and Volcom, have signed on for a loud new initiative to spruik local retail.
The ShopperNova initiative, which launched today, is spearheaded by Australian radio station Nova which is part of the DMG Radio Australia network.
ShopperNova works as a free iPhone 'app', specifically designed to use the radio medium for retail by allowing consumers to see and locate nearby stores Australia-wide.
The tool, aimed at driving foot traffic into bricks and mortar retail, combines the location services of the iPhone with retail promotions, to drive consumers back into stores.
Retailers and brands, such as those already signed on – General Pants, Diesel, Super Dry, Lorna Jane, Volcom, Boost Juice, and AMF Bowling – can also add their promotions to a web based portal Nova has put together.
These offers are then presented to the consumer on their iPhone according to how close that user is to that retail location, offering paper free deals for shoppers to redeem once in store.
Consumers can also use the app to share promotions on Twitter, Facebook and email, and mark their favourite retailers to receive instant push notifications when a promotion is placed.
DMG radio Australia, ShopperNova director Darren Winterford said the ShopperNova app is a revolution in an age where, traditionally, technology has led consumers away from bricks and mortar retail.
“Smartphone adoption in Australia has become so widespread we feel the time is right to put an offer like this into the market,” he said.
“Almost 50 per cent of the population now has a smartphone, one of the highest rates in the world, [and] success in fashion retail is dependent on being able to communicate regularly with a consumer base on seasonal updates, new arrivals and sales. ShopperNova allows fashion retail to build a loyal consumer base who appreciate being up to date with their favourite fashion brands and retailers.
“The fact the product is brought to the consumer by Nova, a major broadcaster, is also a huge point of difference. We have the youth profile consistent with so many fashion brands that it makes this app very compelling.”
The ShopperNova app has been developed in conjunction with Sydney-based agency Creative Licence Digital and has been six months in planning and development.