{"id":110649,"date":"2015-12-09T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T20:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/five-reasons-why-local-businesses-should-be-exploring-the-use-of-beacon-technology-in-2016\/"},"modified":"2024-12-21T05:51:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T10:51:04","slug":"five-reasons-why-local-businesses-should-be-exploring-the-use-of-beacon-technology-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/local-search\/five-reasons-why-local-businesses-should-be-exploring-the-use-of-beacon-technology-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Five reasons why local businesses should be exploring the use of beacon technology in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing in the\u00a0Harvard Business Review<\/a>, Chuck Martin talks of beacons as \u201cthe missing piece in the whole mobile-shopping puzzle\u201d. He points to the technology\u2019s ability to communicate with an individual, in a personalised way, without them having to do anything at all. This, he says, helps to bypass what is \u201cusually a major hurdle for any mobile shopping technology\u201d, because it makes that engagement completely effortless for the customer. Beacon technology has been steadily gathering pace since Apple launched the iBeacon in 2013, and recently it has begun to take the world of mobile by storm. A\u00a0BI Intelligence report<\/a>\u00a0at the start of the year said that beacons would be driving $44 billion in\u00a0retail<\/a> sales by 2016, up from the $4 billion prediction for 2015. Then last month came the big news that Apple and IBM have teamed up<\/a>\u00a0on a host of new apps incorporating analytics and iBeacons. Some say that retail is on the verge of \u201ctotal reinvention<\/a>\u201d, and there\u2019s no reason why this should only be applicable to large brands. Just as it\u2019s no longer acceptable for businesses of any size to not have a website, it seems likely that soon, national and local businesses alike will have no choice but to join the technology revolution broadly labelled the Internet of Things (IoT).<\/p>\n

\"iBeacon\"

Source: http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/<\/p><\/div>\n

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What are beacons?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Beacons are small, Bluetooth-enabled devices that attach to a wall or object inside a shop or customer area. They can often be just a little sticker, which is easy and unobtrusive for a retailer to use. Beacon technology is able to pinpoint the location of customers in stores and other places and to deliver messages to their mobile devices. Specifically, a beacon emits a Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) signal that a retailer\u2019s mobile app can pick up on when coming within range of that signal. Beacons are important because they allow more precise targeting of customers in a given location. A customer is generally in control of the apps that are set to leverage beacon technology, meaning that the retailer or business has preset user permission to contact them. Half of beacon-triggered messages sent currently are some form of coupon,\u00a0according to Shopkick<\/a>.\u00a0Mobile coupons are a significant part of this market. Mobile couponing app company\u00a0RetailMeNot\u00a0claims that its offers alone influenced $3.5 billion in retail sales in 2013. However beyond offering digital coupons, the small wireless devices can expand loyalty efforts, provide an indoor heat maps of customer engagement and conduct contactless payments. If they haven\u2019t done so already, 2016 will undoubtedly be the year that small and local businesses should begin getting to grips with beacon technology. Here are five important reasons why…<\/p>\n

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  1. Joining the dots between offline and digital<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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