For retailers that still treat their channels like isolated businesses, connecting them with iBeacons can become a necessary step, in a very competitive market.

Combine in-store with digital

Recent studies by Deloitte showed that about half of all in-store retail sales were influenced by digital in 2014, and digital is projected to influence 64% of in-store retail sales by the end of 2015. The strongest reason for this is the fact that consumers have started to adopt more and more digital solutions that greatly affect the shopping journey. Making digital solution part of the shopping process actually makes consumers more likely to make a purchase and end up spending more because they either are scanning the market or take advantages of many discount codes or coupons, which causes them to increase their spending.

We are excited about iBeacons

Consumers have not stopped visiting stores, but digital continues to increasingly impact in-store behavior and sales. Retailers are constantly trying to serve customer in ways, which they would like to consume content. Turning towards iBeacons we see there is a huge potential for helping retailers and brand engage shoppers with highly relevant content on their customer’s purchase journey.Phones themselves can also act as iBeacons, enabling people to make simple communications between phones.

So what is an iBeacon?

Build with the latest Bluetooth 4.0 technology, iBeacons are very small and low cost, which means that they can be placed anywhere and does not require devices to be paired. When smartphones comes near e.g. in stores, the beacon signal will trigger content from a database, the data received can either be personalized notification or even interactive store maps with directions from current location to searched items.

Stores can play a central role in enabling quicker and cheaper engagement through the usage of iBeacons

iBeacons can change the shopping experience

iBeacons power lies in the contextualization. Major brands and retailers are realizing that these devices are really powerful in the personal delivery of information. This allows their customers to receive targeted and relevant information for a product based on the direction they are heading. Think about a scenario where your customers are leaving the store without a purchase, with iBeacons, it is possible to push a coupon or discount code and hopefully making the customer return. Ever wondered how to get hard facts about the flow of people in store relative to customer purchase behavior? IBeacons provide the foundation for creating in-store analytics that can increase the value per purchase. This has been common practice for eCommerce sites, but can now also be available for retail stores.

The application of iBeacons is, however, not limited to retail stores. Imagine when visiting museums or other attraction, that when we are close to selected attraction the beacon sends a signal with notification/image/video with information of what is being looked at. Also, imagine when picking which restaurant to eat at, customers can see detailed information about what is in front of them including price, nutrition, ingredients and much more.

Stores can play a central role in enabling quicker and cheaper engagement through the usage of iBeacons. To create an impact on the customer journey companies must expand their focus on customer experience, as it will accordingly to Gartner, become the primary basis for competition in 2016. At Pubfront we have a dedicated team of commerce experts that can help you build the perfect solution for your business that uses powerful iBeacons. We are determined that we can help your Business to provide an engaging shopping experience that is performing at its peak.