HADDONFIELD, N.J. — Automotive Mobile Solutions announced the launch of the LeadsBeacon Apple and Google Wallet software platform, a loyalty geofencing solution designed to help auto dealers recapture in-market car buyers who may be shopping a region.

The system is designed to use Apple Wallet, a native app to all iPhones, or Android Wallet, installed in most U.S. smartphones, to send above-the-lock-screen alerts that cannot be ignored by customers.

“Loyalty geofencing, also known as proximity marketing, is the new challenger and soon-to-be champion of automotive mobile digital marketing,” said John Possumato, founder of Automotive Mobile Solutions. “Better yet, it’s not too late to be an early adopter.”

Dealers gain permission to send the alerts when customers accept an initial offer — such as a discount coupon, giveaway, digital business card or loyalty “punch” card — which creates a “pass” to their Apple or Android wallet. The initial offer can be presented in the form of a Web link, QR code, text link or via social media.

Subsequent offers can be sent to all customers at any time or whenever individual customers cross a pre-established “geofence” or come within range of a “beacon” that triggers the alert.

“Beacons are inexpensive devices that range from the size of postage stamp to the size of your hand, with a range of 20 to 250 feet,” Possumato explains. “You could place one outside your competitor’s lot to recapture sales customers or near the local oil change shop to send service offers. If you wish, you can place one in every vehicle in your showroom.”

Possumato, a licensed attorney, noted that the alerts are not technically SMS text messages and are therefore not regulated by the FCC. Customers who no longer wish to receive alerts can simply delete the pass from their wallets.

Possumato tackled the subject of loyalty geofencing in the March issue of Auto Dealer Today and included a profile of brothers Michael and Joe David Pacifico, owners of Pacifico Marple Ford Lincoln in Broomall, Pa., who began using the system late last year.

“As this loyalty geofencing technology rapidly advances, it’s best we start using it now to reap some of the early benefits, before it becomes a ‘must-have’ tactic,” Michael Pacifico said.

Automotive Mobile Solutions is a Haddonfield, N.J.-based provider of advanced mobile marketing solutions for auto dealers, including its state-of-the-art Sales TextChat and Service TextChat two-way texting systems. AMS has sales associates and resellers in the Unites States, Canada, and the UK. For more information, Text LEADSBEACON to 69696, visit the company’s website or call (856) 495-3138.

John Possumato will present “Ready, Set, Text! Best Practices for Texting Compliantly” at Dealer Summit in Tampa on Wednesday, May 4, at 4:20 p.m.