Bill Hanifin
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The iBeacon has been much talked about as a way to connect with consumers inside stores and shopping structures where GPS signals are often interrupted by the physical structures.
The iBeacon technology requires less power to operate than GPS powered devices and works in compatibility with both iOS 7 and Android devices. The iBeacon is built around Bluetooth Low Energy, also known as Bluetooth Smart.
iBeacons open up a world of opportunity for retailers as they enable store owners to send notifications of sale items and other promotions to shoppers while they are in close proximity to the inventory. The devices could at once entice people to buy selected items and play a role in completing payment for items purchased at the point-of-sale.
Judging by TechCrunch’s inventory of grocers, professional sports teams, and automobile manufacturers that are working on some form of iBeacon implementation, the growth of these devices in retail setting should skyrocket during 2014.
While Robert Scoble talked the rise of Contextual Adults in this post in the Gillmor Gang, I had the opportunity to try on a pair of Google Glass this week at the NACS Leadership event in Miami. Google Glass is not the same as iBeacon, but does represent another way for consumers to absorb information pushed by iBeacons.
Now that we’ve given a new set of powerful marketing tools that work in real time, marketers will really be put to the test to manage their customer communications with grace and impact.
