iBeacon: Secret Weapon For Retailers (mobilecastmedia.com)

As part of our continuing coverage of Apps World 2014 in San Francisco, I talked to Brent Hieggelke, Chief Marketing Officer of Urban Airship.  Urban Airship provides notification services for app developers, and this ties very nicely with beacons that can trigger events like personalized notifications when a user is at a particular location in the store.

Until now marketers could only learn about their customers through their web browsing and mobile app usage, but now data are available on a customer’s physical movements throughout the shopping experience.  Can you imagine the possibilities?  Thus far, advertising costs have dropped dramatically because of the very precise targeting available through online advertising.  Now, retailers can set up all sorts of A/B testing to see which displays and retail environments are most effective.  This can drive further revenue and savings for retailers.

Watch the video to find out the new possibilities for retailers to gain unprecedented insights from their customers:

Apple has chosen to call their offering iBeacon and has designed it so that Android phones can also support the technology.  The solution allows users to set their preferences to allow beacon-triggered events.  When sending messages, however, retailers should need to know that the most effective messages must be relevant and timely for the user.

Other potential uses include welcome messages when a user enters a retail store.  When combined with other data about the user’s needs, the message can present the user with a personalized offer and discount.  It is also possible to collect exit surveys when a user leaves an establishment.