Retail Shopping will change more in the next ten years than it has in the last hundred years.
Stores will behave more like websites and websites will behave more like stores. The fundamentals of what a store is, its purpose and function is already changing!
Increasingly retailers are using beacons to enhance instore experiences whilst simultaneously breeching your physical and online experience.
Beacons are small wireless devices that transmit a continuous radio signal. The signal ID is detected by a smart phone that send the ID to a cloud server. The server can then push targeted content to the device. Bluetooth low energy (BLE) is the technology that’s used, and it provides device location on a very micro level down to a single store isle for example.
This mean that if you’ve opted in, retailers will be able to gather data, not only on your movements but will also be able to push content direct to your phone.
For example, say you’re walking past your favourite shopping centre in this case, Trinity Leeds and they’re having a sale! With a beacon near by your phone could alert you to the sale and the store that you like!
From a retailer’s perspective the data collected from the beacons is arguably more important than the sales! They’ll be able to use the information to better categorise customers and advertise accordingly.
