Tracking people and things, from products to assets necessary to customizing, delivering and supporting great local customer experience will become a critical competence for SMBs and the enterprise over the next five years. Without an underlying logistics system, supply-chain management and optimization will remain a largely manual experience.

In a new sponsored research report, “Everything In Its Place: Location, Logistics and the Future of Local Competition,” BIA/Kelsey explores digital supply chain management, which has transformed enterprises into efficient just-in-time operations and is now poised to change local marketing and competition. Knowing where your people and assets are is key to delivering complete, delightful customer experience.

For SMBs that want to minimize waste and improve cash flow, asset-tracking has begun to reach into the local market. Small businesses can participate for the first time now that cloud-hosted asset-tracking capabilities are available. Its profound impact will be felt in every business, leaving those that decide to remain unconnected at a serious disadvantage.

BIA/Kelsey projects local location-targeted advertising will generate $29.5 billion in 2020 revenues, 40.6 percent of total local mobile advertising. Consequently, the local market will be turned inside out in the next decade, as small business and brand managers alike embrace IoT and the idea that products and services can be combined locally to create unprecedented customer intimacy and engagement.

In this white paper, BIA/Kelsey lays out a vision of increasingly responsive local marketing based on local delivery of products and services using location-based asset-tracking services. Download it to for free, compliments of MapQuest for Business.

Developers interested in experimenting with the MapQuest for Business’ APIs, can visit Developer.MapQuest.com.