Most Important Data For Marketing Success, December 2013 [CHART]

Although aspects of proximity marketing—targeted marketing with a geographic radius of roughly 100 meters—have been in place for nearly a decade, the field is still new enough to make it extremely difficult to forecast. Its uptake depends on two overarching factors: retailer interest and consumer acceptance.

Right now, the only thing that everyone agrees on is that 2014 will be filled with small-scale tests to see whether the latest generation of proximity platforms can significantly improve the shopper experience and the retailer’s bottom line. Beyond that, opinions are split. On the bullish side, some foresee a radically transformed environment in which the world is, in essence, a personalized and interactive catalog to be browsed and shopped with a smartphone or wearable device. At the other end of the spectrum are those who expect the widespread testing of proximity platforms to show them unready for scaling and hampered by fragmented services, operational complexities and consumer reservations about privacy. Read the rest at eMarketer.