When I read Nick's post on Beacon technology, I was immediately excited. I've been following this space for at least a year now and have been waiting for some revolution to take over my local BR, Zara, and TJ Maxx stores. But nothing has happened, or maybe something has, but I haven't noticed it (which would be bad from a marketing perspective!). First and foremost, I wholeheartedly agree that Beacon technology has massive potential to change how we approach communication, customer engagement, and service; it can become another form of digitally-driven marketing to form a personalized and valuable relationship with consumers, particularly from a retail or in-store perspective. However, I do think there are a number of challenges. I list them below:
1. Opting-in is a must.
When I think about wanting a better in-store experience and how Macy's can do that for me through beacon technology, I ask myself, what do I have to do? I need to have the Macy's app on my phone (which I don't) and I need to turn on BLE (which I previously didn't but only do so now in support of BLE-tech). If I make it past these two steps, I then need to be able to receive push notifications and to be realistic, how many consumers want more notifications? Not me. Downloading the app and opting in may present a large barrier for many retailers, but an opportunity still exists.
2. Consumers may not want to be engaged via their mobile device while shopping in the store.
As a consumer shopping in a retail clothing store, I am rarely on my phone checking out deals or looking up trends on blogs. I am just browsing. How often am I on my phone, holding onto it as I browse the t-shirts rack? Close to 0 times. Now, on the otherhand, this application may work for electronic stores, public areas such as airports, and sports stadiums where beacon technology could prove more powerful because the phone is a more meaningful device for the consumer experience.
3. The in-store digital experience will bring in more revenue.
Let's say I happen to be spending a little more time in the jeans section and Levi's knows my historical purchasing history from my registered account; why should Levi's give me a promotion? Are they giving money away unnecessarily? There is a trade-off in what could have been organically-driven revenue versus promotion-driven and what falls in-between is money left on the table.
I'm sure there are many other challenges Beacon technology faces but these are some of the biggest barriers from my perspective. However, the industry is quickly learning that other channels outside of retail are potentially more valuable and larger in scale. I'm looking forward to where beacon technology lands and how I can be positively impacted as an end-user.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/08/in-five-years-ibeaconbluetooth-low-energy-device-market-to-reach-60-million-devices/
1. Opting-in is a must.
When I think about wanting a better in-store experience and how Macy's can do that for me through beacon technology, I ask myself, what do I have to do? I need to have the Macy's app on my phone (which I don't) and I need to turn on BLE (which I previously didn't but only do so now in support of BLE-tech). If I make it past these two steps, I then need to be able to receive push notifications and to be realistic, how many consumers want more notifications? Not me. Downloading the app and opting in may present a large barrier for many retailers, but an opportunity still exists.
2. Consumers may not want to be engaged via their mobile device while shopping in the store.
As a consumer shopping in a retail clothing store, I am rarely on my phone checking out deals or looking up trends on blogs. I am just browsing. How often am I on my phone, holding onto it as I browse the t-shirts rack? Close to 0 times. Now, on the otherhand, this application may work for electronic stores, public areas such as airports, and sports stadiums where beacon technology could prove more powerful because the phone is a more meaningful device for the consumer experience.
3. The in-store digital experience will bring in more revenue.
Let's say I happen to be spending a little more time in the jeans section and Levi's knows my historical purchasing history from my registered account; why should Levi's give me a promotion? Are they giving money away unnecessarily? There is a trade-off in what could have been organically-driven revenue versus promotion-driven and what falls in-between is money left on the table.
I'm sure there are many other challenges Beacon technology faces but these are some of the biggest barriers from my perspective. However, the industry is quickly learning that other channels outside of retail are potentially more valuable and larger in scale. I'm looking forward to where beacon technology lands and how I can be positively impacted as an end-user.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/08/in-five-years-ibeaconbluetooth-low-energy-device-market-to-reach-60-million-devices/
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