Advertisers can track the stores you visit through Snapchat. Using GPS location data Snapchat can give advertisers valuable information about what stores users may be visiting, so they can match that data with a geofilter ad campaign that’s running in the app. The capability to track users via this new method comes by way of a tool that Snapchat is going to be introducing called Snap To Store, and as the name suggests when users visit a retail store or business, say, like Starbucks, and if they happen to send a Snap to their followers using a Starbucks geofilter, then Starbucks would be able to use Snap To Store to see how many people visited that location following that Snap. To be clear, Starbucks is also just an example and there is no information mentioning that Starbucks is going to be using this new tool.
For advertisers to use Snap To Store there is reportedly a prerequisite or two. The advertiser has to have physical retail stores and they have to be in the U.S., and they have to meet a minimum amount of spending, but other than that it seems like the tool will be open to any advertiser that meets that criteria.
As of right now it seems that there are at least a few confirmed businesses which are using Snap To Store as part of a beta test and this includes Wendy’s, 7-11, and Paramount Pictures, though many more are likely to give the new tool a whirl once Snapchat makes it widely available. The good news for users is that if they don’t want their location data being tracked through the use of geofilters for this purpose, Snap Inc. is offering users a way to opt out of the whole thing, and in addition to this users can simply block location tracking from the app and not just opt out of tracking from the new tool. Snapchat doesn’t seem to mention when the new tool officially goes live, although it would seem that advertisers may already have access to it and if that’s the case then more geofilter ad campaigns may begin to start surfacing within the application.