The emergence and spread of beacons—the Bluetooth-enabled, wireless transmitters that retailers use to communicate with people’s smartphones—is prompting reconsiderations of in-store marketing tactics. According to at least one observer, they also should be pushing consumer product goods companies to reconsider how they work with retailers to convince shoppers to consider and grab their offerings from shelves.

A recent blog post points out that shoppers are not only in search of coupons or price discounts as they walk through stores. Most of them need or want additional information, whether about specific products or in the form of ideas for using various items in combination. Therefore, if manufacturers work within the retailer’s beacon system, they can list comparative sodium content for their brand of soup as soon as a grocer shopper enters the soup aisle. A pasta company might push an interactive recipe to a harried shopper, running into the grocery store at 5:30 p.m., demonstrating how to combine a few ingredients to make a quick, simple, nutritious dinner.

Although beacons do not necessarily require shoppers to have related apps on their phones, there might be benefits from limiting push marketing, to avoid pinging a consumer every time he or she turns around. One way to ensure these limits is to work within the retailer’s system; if the retailer does not have a beacon, vendors need to solicit permission to place their own beacons strategically. A clothing brand then might locate a beacon inside a clothing rack that features its offerings—but only at that rack, to avoid conflicting signals. Then it could send a quick review of pieces combined in attractive outfits, or coupons for purchases over a certain dollar amount, or detailed information about the country of origin of the pieces when a consumer approaches the rack.

Regardless of the type of cooperation, the partners in the retail supply chain can vastly enhance the shopping experience by relying on beacon technology in a way that is appropriate, helpful, and appealing to consumers.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is an in-store beacon?
2. How should retailers work with their vendors to develop effective beacon programs?

 

Source: Punheet Mehta, MediaPost, September 29, 2014