With the growth of shopping apps and beacon technology, retail and in-store marketing are becoming more common among retailers with brick-and mortar-locations. Retailers have seen the value of reaching shoppers at key moments when they are in-store making purchase decisions.
Mobile phone usage in stores wasn’t always as necessary as it seems to be today, but now 90% of retail shoppers use their smartphones in stores.
One of the main factors driving in-store marketing is beacon technology, as the Global Beacon Technology Market is estimated to surpass $25 million by 2024. While the increased use of smartphones in stores is a main driver of Beacon Technology, the growth can also be attributed to the development of smart cities since mobile beacon technology offers value in connecting urban infrastructures.
What are Beacons and What is Beacon Technology?
Beacons are small, battery-operated wireless devices that transmit Bluetooth signals to nearby smartphones. They are one of the latest innovations in proximity marketing. In retail, beacons can reach customers who have Bluetooth enabled and the right retail apps downloaded onto their phones. The shoppers are then served in-app ads for relevant products, and sometimes coupons or rewards to incentivize them to buy a certain product.
Proximity marketing beacons are even able to get as granular as knowing where in stores shoppers are, so they can be targeted while they are in the same aisle as a certain product, all via the beacon communicating with the customer’s mobile device.
Benefits of Using Bluetooth Beacon Technology in Retail Marketing
- Beacon Technology allows you to reach shoppers in-store or in an area that has retail locations and works alongside other forms of marketing to help brands encourage purchasing in real-time.
- Proximity beacons allow brands to reach customers when they are making their purchasing decisions and provide a more personalized customer experience. Personalized customer experiences help drive conversions.
- Further than the customer experience, beacon marketing can provide brands with valuable customer insights into their personal shopping habits, and help brands get to know their audience better.
- Beacon Technology can be used with other proximity marketing tactics like geo-fencing to target locally in a specific area or region to maximize results.
Why is Beacon Marketing So Successful?
Beacon technology’s success is due to the increased use of smartphones in stores. According to Deloitte Consulting, digital interactions now influence 56 cents of every dollar spent at brick-and-mortar stores. Some of the common in-store smartphone activities include looking up product information (58%) and checking or comparing prices (54%). This is imperative to advertisers because it gives them the opportunity to reach shoppers while they are in the right mindset and considering making a purchase.
Beacon Technology Strategy Examples
Figuring out the best beacon technology strategy is one hurdle to success. There are many ways you can use this technology: to help enhance customer experience, create an easier way to connect the consumer with the products they want, and more. Let's explore!
- Using proximity marketing beacons allows brands to connect with customers through Bluetooth beacon technology. An easy way to influence the customers in-store, and guide them to purchase, by simply sending them deals and discounts. By doing this, you are converting your curious patrons into customers, and gathering valuable information about them as well as their purchasing decisions.
- Guiding customers and giving them an easy way to find the products they are looking for, without having to track down someone that works in the store. Examples of this are using AI to direct people to specific locations in a building, or mapping routes in a store based on products customers are interested in.
- By using beacon technology you can also better understand your consumers' behavior. Including how they move around in your retail locations. Therefore allowing you to better design your store layout to cater to your consistent consumer base's needs.
- In-store events can be challenging to get people to engage with. Another way proximity marketing beacons can work for you is notifying nearby shoppers that you have an event going on that day, right by them.
- Bluetooth beacons and geofencing can be used hand-in-hand and are a great way to enhance mobile marketing campaigns. Geofencing works great on a larger geographic region, while beacon technology works better on smaller distances, therefore making them the perfect compliment to help drive awareness, sales, and retail store traffic.
The Future of Proximity Marketing and Beacon Technology
Joyce Reitman, CEO of Motionloft, a sensor company that retailers utilize to increase sales and trigger proximity targeting, projects that, “the future of retail will embrace neural networks and machine learning devices to get more connected. Analysts will use customer footfall traffic and behavior data to create experiential shopping destinations.”
This means that moving forward, advertisers are starting to look at the path customers take through their stores so they can optimize store organization and with that, optimize advertising as shoppers are going through brick-and-mortar locations. They will also start looking at dwell time so they can target shoppers based on where they are in the store and for how long.
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Reach out to MNI if you are interested in learning more about beacon technology, what it means across industries, like retail, and how adding it to your advertising strategy can help strengthen your audience awareness and targeting efforts.
