Lidl waze app web

Find your way to Lidl, and other stores, on the waze app

Supermarkets and coffee chains have begun advertising on Google-backed navigation app Waze in a bid to capture drive-by shoppers.

Companies including Tesco, M&S, Lidl, Costa and Sainsbury’s Argos have struck up partnerships with the free-to-download satnav app, which was acquired by Google in 2013.

The app has 1.8 million active users in the UK - defined as those who do a minimum of five drives a month - and is posting 90% year-on-year growth.

Advertisers can use a combination of branded pins, promoted search and takeovers to promote their branch to nearby users, who can reroute there with just one tap.

Branded pins highlight branch locations on the map and promoted search will ensure companies show up in the results of users in the area.

Its “most impactful” advertising strategy is zero-speed takeovers, it said. These display an ad for a nearby branch when drivers come to a standstill.

A recent campaign with Costa, which used a combination of the above advertising, delivered brand recall uplift of 190%. Drivers who saw the ads on Waze were 99% more likely to search and navigate to a Costa location within a week after seeing the ad, the company said.

Tesco, M&S and Lidl have all begun advertising on the platform in the past three months.

Waze’s UK head Finlay Clark said the app could deliver “very accurate” statistics on response to the ads using its GPS data, which can track how many users reroute to branches plus how many search and travel to stores over time.

“There’s lots of interest from the grocery category because with Waze, you’re getting users in the moment when they are near stores,” said Clark. “If you’re driving home from work and you’ve got nothing in your fridge, and there’s an M&S store nearby with an offer on, you’re seeing people rerouting. And that’s definitely interesting for retailers.”

Half of UK users commute using the app and, though only 5% use it to navigate to supermarkets, Waze said there was potential to grow this proportion. Globally, 30% of its 90 million users make stops at supermarkets using Waze.

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