WellPack, French leader in local mobile acquisition campaigns, identifies three structuring trends that will redefine the communication strategies of brands in the months to come.
Le « flexilocal », new standard
If the word local is already on everyone's lips, we can expect it to become more of a modus operandi than ever in 2026. Single-brand communication, thought in a top-down and homogeneous way across an entire network, works less and less in the face of reality on the ground. Each point of sale evolves in a competitive environment, sociodemographic and contextual specific to it. Immediate competition (especially hard discount), specificities of the catchment area, local consumption habits, operational constraints (works, accessibility, flux) are all parameters perfectly identified by the in-store teams, but still too little integrated into communications by network heads. The latter must now find the right balance between strategic centralization and listening to local realities.. More and more, they submit their communication plans to the points of sale, by giving them the freedom to relay – or not – certain speeches. Result : more proximity, more relevant communication and greater receptivity from consumers.
Operational hyperpersonalization
The trend towards “flexilocal” automatically leads to an increase in customization needs. In 2026, it will no longer just be a matter of adapting a message, but to manage campaigns capable of being implemented store by store. Products actually available, proximity agreements, specific offers : an effective national campaign is now a campaign capable of integrating as many local signals as possible. On a network of several hundred points of sale, this potentially means as many messages as stores. This logic is already well mastered in digital, but it now fully extends to other levers, such as mobile drive-to-store. The RCS in particular, allows you to personalize not only the contents, but also the audiences.
Measure differently to manage better
In 2026, a question arises : is it still relevant to evaluate a drive-to-store campaign based on the click rate? ? The answer is clearly no, although digital reflexes die hard. Talking about click-through rates (CTR) to judge an activation whose objective is the physical visit no longer makes sense. What matters, these are the indicators truly aligned with the business issue : cost per visit, ROI, Incremental ROI. A campaign can have a low click-through rate while still generating an excellent cost per store visit. Conversely, a good CTR does not guarantee incremental traffic. The good news : the French market has an ecosystem of independent third-party measurers, reliable and recognized in drive-to-store – an asset that is still rare internationally. In 2026, in a context of budgetary tension, this measurement capacity becomes a key lever to help brands decide, optimize and prioritize their investments. Without ignoring traditional digital indicators, it becomes essential to prioritize them. Like e-commerce, where conversion remains the central indicator, the visit to the point of sale must be considered the key act of transformation. For further, it is also possible to objectify the uplifts generated, particularly by product families. An approach that does not benefit distributors here, but to manufacturers in the management of their commercial strategies.
WellPack : 100 million SMS and RCS sent in 2024
Founded in 2001, WellPack owns the largest GDPR-compliant database on the market, made up of more than 39 million contacts, allowing it to reach a wide audience throughout France. In 2024, WellPack has sent over 100 million SMS and RCS, operated more than 13,000 campaigns and worked with more than 500 clients, including Picard, Renault, E.Leclerc, Deichmann, Atol or Jardiland.
