In the 5.2 release of the Broadleaf framework, we introduced the ability to gather a customer’s location data based on their IP address to further tailor user experiences.
How can this data be used?
When this data is combined with the Broadleaf’s Customer Segments, Advanced Offers, and Advanced CMS modules, users gain the ability to target customers with specific content or exclusive pricing based on their location. For example, users can create an offer that automatically gives 10% off all t-shirts for customers in the state of Texas. Additionally, users can provide banner ads throughout the site to highlight this offer to the same set of customers.
How does it work?
To gather the customer’s location data, the framework retrieves the customer's IP address when they first visit the site, and passes it to an integrated external service. This service provides the detailed location data.
Out-of-box, Broadleaf Enterprise Editions have integrations available with FreeGeoIP and MaxMind’s GeoIP2 services. Based on the exact service used, the retrieved data will have varying degrees of precision. Additionally, some services provide a more comprehensive set of location data. Case in point, FreeGeoIP provides the country, latitude, and longitude, whereas MaxMind’s Precision City API provides the zip code, city, state/region, and country data.
Based on the comprehensiveness and precision of the data, you can create customer segments with varying levels of intelligence. For example, if the service’s highest level of precision is at the country level, then the user cannot group customers based on their state/region.
For more information on the precision/comprehensiveness, pricing models, and usage limits for each of our integrated geolocation services, visit: FreeGeoIP, MaxMind GeoIP2 Precision Services, and MaxMind GeoIP2 Databases .
For more information about Broadleaf’s integrations with these services, visit: Broadleaf geolocation documentation.
