How iBeacon will redefine your shopping experience
by Andrew Ngui
Solving the indoor positioning conundrum
The point of navigating through an indoor retail environment is to get to where you want to go, or to discover new destinations that you may be interested in. You could have seen an advertisement and decided to check out the product or service offering in-store.
Connecting the dots — Converting searches into sales
Retailers have been searching for a seamless solution to address these needs. iBeacon appears to be the most relevant solution that will convert passive browsers into active buyers and thereby redefining the retail therapy experience as we know it.
The Missing Key — An active userbase and thriving ecosystem
Building on the success of the App Store, the iBeacon framework takes this already successful eco-system a few steps further.
- Apple has a large user base and by sheer size and marketshare,
- Apple has the financial ability to tilt the scales in their favor and popularize iBeacon as the mobile payment framework of choice,
More importantly… - It is all at once, a convergent location-aware contextual framework that redefines how we interact with our environment. From homes, cars, buses, parking garages to museums, retail malls, educational institutions and healthcare.
This is where iBeacon will shine…
“It opens a door to new set of applications such as indoor maps and in-store marketing, it makes the internet of things a reality” – @HariGottiPati
Gamification & Localized Context Aware Marketing
Over time, as customers continue to interact with iBeacon, businesses will be able push notifications that connect the dots and create seamless experiences.
iBeacon apps are being designed to compete for your customer’s attention. Check-in games where customers are given relevant incentives to visit retail outlets throughout the mall. In short, the ability as businesses to serve relevant content is limited only by your imagination.
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Further reading
Loophole in iBeacon could let iPhones guard your likes instead of bombard you with coupons — GigaOm
iBeacon briefing: What is it, and what can we expect from it? — 9to5Mac
iBeacons: the saviour of high street retail? — The Telegraph
How Apple iBeacon Will Transform Local Commerce — @SteveCherney
I don’t want an iBeacon — Solid Signal Blog
