Everything you want to know about Beacons

The term “Beacons,” has been creating a lot of buzz of late in the Tech, and business circles. Simply put, the word Beacons refer to a guiding light, and it is for this very same purpose they are used in Tech related sales and marketing promotions. Let us now learn more about what Beacons are, how they work, and how they can help your business.

What are Beacons?

A Beacon is basically a wireless Bluetooth sensor, that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), to send and receive data to smartphones to perform certain actions, like app notifications, messages or prompts.

Beacons are small, cost-effective, battery powered, and can be strategically placed in a way that when a customer comes in their vicinity, they will receive appropriate messages and notifications.

How do Beacons work?

Beacons use BLE or Bluetooth Low Energy signal to send ID and data to specific Apps in your smartphone in the form of individual notifications. It is important to note that Beacons only send info and not receive them. This data transfer happens only when the customer has switched on his Bluetooth, has given location access permission, as well as has opted to receive notifications.

Each Beacon has its unique ID that reaches out to an App on your smartphone so that you receive relevant App information. This ensures that you get only the right notifications thereby providing high levels of privacy.

Why are Beacons important to Retailers, Marketers, and Businessmen?

With the number of smartphone users growing day by day, Beacons are a terrific way to engage, and connect with prospective customers. And gently nudge them to make a purchase once they are within the range of your Beacons.

Beacons provide the following crucial insights about Customers

• Customer’s spending habits
• Track customer movements within a mall or shop
• Shopping patterns and interests
• Time spent in a particular shop
• Time spent in hanging around a particular product group
• Preferred products

This information that Beacons provide, is further used to create various Marketing and Selling strategies like

• Proximity Marketing

Otherwise known as Hyperlocal Marketing, this method gives an incredible opportunity to Retailers and Marketers to sell to shoppers, based on their location. Messages and push notifications can be directed to the buyers who are near a store to enter the store and buy, by offering exclusive discounts and coupons.

• Contextual Targeting

This strategy uses the info from the Mobile App of the shopper to deliver targeted messaging based on a particular context. This might include a combo of info like the customer location, shopping patterns, history, in-store activity, etc.

• Merging the Online and Store experiences

Beacon Technology makes use of the Online or App data of the shopper to deliver apt in-store shopping experience for the users and vice versa. Using the In-store data, the retailers can entice the users to make a purchase on their ecommerce site by offering suitable discounts.

• Analytics

Beacons also provide a wealth of data that help in creating various Analytics and Reports. They can give you info also about

• The number of footfalls that happen in a shop or mall
• Customer shopping patterns based on their In-store activity
• Frequency of customer visits

This intelligence info helps in determining not just consumer behavior, but also identify the most attractive sections, busiest hours in a shop, etc. This will be of immense use when it comes to planning your product placement, merchandising, stock planning, resource allocation, etc.

The main idea that makes Beacons stand out, is that they not just deliver messages and notifications, but they deliver relevant, customized, and contextually apt messages and notifications that make a customer more likely to take action.

What do the Numbers say?

 

The Beacon Platform, Swirl, in its study says that around 73% of customers who received a Beacon initiated App notification in their smartphone were nudged to make a purchase. 61% of the shoppers said that these notifications would motivate them to visit a shop or mall more often.

A BI Intelligence study stated that In-Store sale prompted by Beacons touched an astonishing figure of $44 Billion for the Top US Retailers in 2016.

The Fine Balance in using Beacons

Beacons have opened up an exciting world of incredible opportunities by providing the customized shopping experience to customers. And also increased sales and customer intelligence for the business owners. But like any other technology, Beacons also should be used with care and caution.

A study conducted by inMarket states that while the Beacons helped in a 45% increase in customer interaction rate, it also says that when shoppers received multiple notifications on a trip, their App usage fell down by 313%.

It is, therefore, wise to employ a delicate balance between enticing customers to make a purchase. And bombarding them with too many coupons and discounts which may end up annoying them.

It is imperative that you understand the technology and App to use it to the best. Employ an experienced Tech partner like Moon Technolabs Pvt. Ltd., India, for all your iBeacon App Development needs, to revolutionize the way your customer’s shop.

Get in touch with us today at sales@moontechnolabs.com, to know more about Beacon Technology and how we can help you create awesome Apps to leverage it.