Retails, brands and manufacturers are celebrating the advent of beacons - a location-based technology that broadcast signals using Bluetooth Low Engergy (BLE). Basically, beacon enabled apps are notified when the device enters or exists the range of a beacon (Lighthouse). Suppose Forever21 decides to implement beacon sensors in its store. Then whenever customers enter that beacon’s zone, apps installed on their smartphones can pick up the coupons, sales, special promotions, recommendations transmitted from the beacon. Consumers love coupons and sales, while retailers enjoy driving more clients to their doors. Clearly, beacons result in a win-win situation.
As aforementioned, beacons used BLE. BLE is a wireless network technology designed for low energy consumption and cost, while maintaining a communication range similar to that of its predecessor, Classic Bluetooth (Lighthouse). These small wireless devices would broadcast packets of data at a regular interval, which would then be collected by smartphones. Smartphone apps would in turn decide how close the phone is from each of the beacons, and correspondingly trigger such actions as offering discounts, displaying alerts, opening doors, etc…. In short, beacons act as a broadcaster sending the data, while the iOS app is the receiver.
Unlike GPS, which might not give you signal when you walk inside a large building, beacons could determine your physical location indoors with accuracy. These small wireless devices might not only create a paradigm shift in advertising and shopping experience, but also be applied to tourism, education, entertainment industry and many other fields.
Sources: http://lighthouse.io/beginners-guide-to-beacons/
http://estimote.com/press-kit/
I really like your comment on Beacon's potential in the future. Actually in summer during my internship, my company planned to install Beacon to track customers track and figure out which store is more visited. So I believe that in the future there will be more use of Beacon since it is not only beneficial for the customer but also the business.
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea beacons even existed. That seems like a great way for stores to bring customers back to physical locations instead of just shopping online. It will be interesting to see if the use of beacons expands in the future.
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