Using Beacons in your Business

What is Beacon Technology?

It will be a smart choice to connect with your client using new technology through their smartphone rather than using traditional marketing. Beacon technology is a new and fastest growing technology. Let us see what is it?

Beacon basically looks like a WiFi router device. It is an indoor positioning system that uses a proximity technology to detect the presence of human by his smartphone and performs a predefined actions to send information. Basically Beacon communication advertises through sending a small packet of data.

Beacon device

How it works?

Mainly, it is a one-way communication. Message or notification can be sent through beacon device to a person passing through a nearby beacon device. Person could not reply it because it is a one way communication. Beacons are battery-operated, Bluetooth-enabled small wireless devices.  

It seem as a kind of notification to a smartphone. For example, a shopkeeper fixes a beacon device in the shop or outside wall of the shop. Then the people coming to this shop will get notified about grocery items, closing time of shop, personal coupons, discount codes etc. Also people passing through the way of shop gets a notification about the shop details and items in the shop. This way of connecting to your client is more beneficial.

Uses of Beacons in business-

1. News/events-

Apps can connect with beacons to receive news on the basis of location of users. When user passes through a location, beacon transmits signal to the phone and app delivers a news about that location. For instance, your business is conducting a certain event at some time, users passing through that area will get news about your event. This helps to popularize your business and get more number of people to the event. This is called geo-fencing and it can be used with a combination of beacons and GPS.

2. Hospitality-

Resorts and restaurants can use beacon technology to get frequent customer visits. Resorts use beacons to every table, when customers put their phones near beacon, menu app will open on their phone. Customer can view and select the menu from this and can also see the dishes liked by their friends because it is linked to the app to social networking sites that the customer frequently visits. As soon as selecting a menu will finish, it will get sent to a kitchen staff in who is also connected through a beacon. This helps you ensure that your staff has the meal prepared on time.

Once done, the restaurant has a cashless checkout facility by paying through the app. And customers can get discount code. App can track the time spent by the customers in restaurants. This information can be used to identify a customer with longest spent time and they can be rewarded for some offers such as a free drink or a quick table allotment on their arrival. This results in high traffic gathering to your business.  

3. Tourism-

Beacons uses ibeacon apps to connect with Mobile. Beacon enabled travel app ‘DTJax’ is developed to provide more information about business and restaurants in a city. Due to this, tourists can get more detailed information about the city, and therefore restaurants and other businesses also get more engagements and hence profit increases. Hotels can use beacons to regain any lost revenue by filling unbooked appointments simply by alerting nearby travelers of deals and offers.

4. Retail/Shops-

Beacons for shops

In retail stores, it is often the case that no one knows a shopper is there until he/she makes a purchase. Beacon greets a customer by sharing virtual greeting when customer comes in a beacon range. Using beacon enable app, it can record a customer’s purchase behavior, enables more personalized shopping suggestions, monitors wish lists and tracks customers activity within the store. Retailers use this data for increasing the email list. Beacon is more helpful for customers in the shop. It tells what could he do after coming in a store. Retailers can get customer reviews and give discount coupons or online scratch off cards. Retailers can use beacons to gift shoppers with loyalty program award points based on purchase behavior of customers. You can update content using beacon’s messaging platform, to keep your customers updated about products in your store.

Individual phone signals can track as the customer passes through the store with the use of Beacons. The devices can also help customers navigate to the store, to find products more easily. Beacon can be used for brand, just tell them that you are going to put them in a store, then brands will control the content and promote it. Brands have a lot of interest in maintaining the direct relationship with customers. So it is more efficient for updating the content and building relationships. Beacons allows customers to interact with a product placed on a particular shelf. For example, a winery could share information about specific wines located in a particular part of the store as well as what foods to pair with them.

Conclusion-

With rapidly changing business challenges, and competitions, it has become more difficult to gain maximized profit and stand out within your competitors. Beacon technology possesses the revolution in business as well as in marketing. In addition business owners can enjoy more engaging, seamless and personalized experiences. Also, retailers can increase further knowledge about their buyers. This results in ease to achieve business goals using a single technology.

Looking to ease up your business sale with beacon technology, then you might need some help getting started. Solace is the best place for developing a beacon app to boost business. We have a development team that will help to set you on your way to business innovation. Contact us for beacon apps development.

How Small Businesses Can Use Beacon Technology for Growth & Engagement?

It will be a smart choice to connect with your client using new technology through their smartphone instead of using traditional marketing. Marketing a business, whether it is small or big, there is always a challenge. It is difficult to stand out among the competitors and also make new customers to gain a maximum profit. Many more new ways are there for marketing. but marketing becomes easy and more trendy with the use of ‘Beacon Technology’. Let us see, what is it?

What is Beacon Technology?

Beacon basically looks like a WiFi router device. It is an indoor positioning system that uses a proximity technology to detect the presence of human by his smartphone and performs a predefined actions to send information. Basically beacon communication advertises through sending a small packet of data. It transmits information to smart devices near you to make location-based searching more precise.

Beacon Technology

Mainly it is a one – way communication. Message or notification can be sent through beacon device to a person passing through a nearby beacon device. This is a one way communication so person could not reply it. Beacons are battery-operated and Bluetooth – enabled small wireless devices. It seem as a kind of notification to a smartphone.

How Small Businesses Can Use Beacon Technology?

1. Retailers/shops-

Beacon technology is a way to connect with customers and offer them incentives to enter a particular store, look around and hopefully make purchases.

Beacon Technology for Retailers

• Greet customers when they come to the store-

In retail stores, it is often the case that no one knows a shopper is there until he/she makes a purchase. Beacon greets a customer by sharing virtual greeting when customer comes in a beacon range.

• Create a beacon enabled app-

Using beacon enable app, it can record a customer’s purchase behavior, enables progressively customized shopping suggestions, monitors wish lists and tracks customers activity within the store. Retailers use this data for expanding the  email list.

• Provide content-

Beacon is more helpful for customers in the shop, it tells what could he do after coming in a store. Updated fresh content can be provided to the shoppers. Thus shoppers get new variety of products and it increases the sale of store. It also gives information about the stuff available in store, special deals of the day, offers, Discount coupons. It also gives suggestions about items such as what can you choose with pizza, either coke or choco lava cake.

• Reward customers with loyalty program-

Retailers can use beacons to gift customers with loyalty program award points based on purchase behavior or even for entering the store.

• Tap to text the owner-

This feature allows customers to tap on the text and give comments regarding store or ask questions. This increases the communication and doubt clearing between retailers and customers.

• Keep track of customers-

Use beacon’s to track individual phone signals as customers pass through the store. This helps you to know which path they follow the most and which are of store they visit frequently, and how much time they spend in that area. The devices can also help customers navigate around the store, to find products more easily.

• Link to online content-

Beacons can broadcast content that performs any function the retailer considers beneficial. It includes such as tap to like on Facebook, post an image to Instagram, or link to the business’s website.

• Put Beacons in other locations-

For sale’s engagement, beacons can put on a place other than store. For instance, Store owner in the mall can fixes Beacon at the Entry-Gate of a mall so that everyone passing from there could get notified about the store and make an action of visit and purchase.

• Get brands to cover costs, update content-

Brands have much more interest in building relationships with customers. Let brands to add more updated content and promote it.

• Use Beacons and Geo- fencing events-

Businesses sponsoring or hosting an event can place beacons all through the venue to attract regard for entertainment options, food vendors, and keep attendees updated with the activities taking place at the event.

2. Catering Business-

Beacon technology is helpful to grow the small catering business also. Caters can put beacons to the venue of a program in which they are giving service. So that people coming to the venue get notified about the catering service and caters can get more customers and obviously more profit.

3. Travel-

A taxi service agency can use beacons and increase the profit rate. For example, Just think, someone is walking on a street after finishing his shopping. He is very tired and didn’t want to walk one step. At that point he gets notification about a taxi service with its fare and services. So he click to get one of the cabs and reached home safely without any extra extra effort. Does it helpful for him? Of course, it is efficient for customer and taxi service both.

4. Resorts and Restaurants-

• Check-in-

Waiting in a queue for check-in in a hotel is such a tiresome thing. Imagine guest is entering a lobby of a hotel and he gets pop up with a notification of check – in to hotel to a hotel app. The push notification shows the confirmation of check – in. Guest will be digitally checked – in and the app has already retrieved the personal details at the time of booking a room. Guest will get the hassle free experience starting from he enters a hotel.

• Finding the room and indoor navigation-

To navigate and interact with specific regions using geo-fencing, beacons are useful. To determine the position of a guest in a hotel and direct him to his room beacons can be used. It can also be used for the interactive tour of hotel or resort, where user’s attention is directed to the specific area when they freely walk within hotel building.

• Keyless entry into rooms-

A digital key is sent to guest by app as soon as a guest checked-in digitally. This allows them to sidestep the reception desk and proceed directly to his room. An iBeacon picks up the guest’s phone when in close network and unlocks the room door. This is such an engaging and efficient experience for a guest.

• Food –

Resorts use beacons to every table,when customers put their phones near beacon, menu app will open on their phone. Customer can view and select the menu from this and can also see the dishes liked by their friends because it is  linked to the app to social networking sites that the customer frequently visits. As soon as selecting a menu will finish, it will get sent to a kitchen staff in who is also connected through a beacon. As a result, this helps you ensure that your staff has the meal prepared on time. Once done, the restaurant has a cashless checkout facility by paying through the app.

• Check- out –

Guests can extend a stay or to check-out digitally by sending a push notification. As guest confirms the amount he receives a receipt and can now check-out easily. The whole process is seamless and hassle – free.

Final Words-

Small and medium businesses face massive competition with other main street businesses. And Beacons can truly be an effective marketing strategy for them. It is cost- effective. It also gives the wide reach as compared to other marketing ways.

Looking to ease up your business sale with beacon technology, then you might need some help getting started. Solace is the best place to develop beacon app for boost a business. We have a development team that will help to set you on your way to business innovation. Contact us for beacon apps development.