Proximity marketing is a type of marketing that involves a local approach to advertising using wireless media. Technically, it can be used for use cases which involve advertising to potential users at a particular location. In this paper, we propose to use the technology of Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth 4.0) for proximity marketing at a retail store. Bluetooth Low Energy, a wireless PAN technology, is an eco-friendly form of Bluetooth specifically designed for IoT applications. With the advent of the practice of using the IoT framework for automating processes, an approach to use this technology at a retail store could potentially eradicate the need to hire marketing staff and invest in traditional marketing strategies. This process of automation makes use of devices called beacons for transmitting BLE signals, a mobile application on a smartphone and centralised data storage on a server. Beacons can be detected by a mobile application on a smartphone and beacon specific data regarding particular offers and products can be collected from the centralized storage hosted on a server, which can be used for marketing the retail store's products and offers. This application basically acts as a shopping guide for the customers of that particular retail store. In addition to the automation of the marketing task, machine learning can be used for personalizing offers based on each customer's purchase history. Some other features that can be incorporated into the product include an indoor positioning system, a click and collect facility, payment wallet integration, etc. This approach automates the entire shopping experience and is a novel application of IoT in automating trivial tasks.

Proximity Marketing Using Bluetooth Low Energy

For many years, brick-and-mortar retail has been confronted with an ever-growing e-commerce as a strong competing alternative, and challenging customer expectations. As a result, retailers need to increasingly focus on integrating emerging technologies to keep pace with online retailers and improve the customer’s shopping experience. In this context, beacon technology has been credited with the potential to fundamentally transform the retail industry. However, to date, widespread adoption by retailers has failed to materialize. One reason for the failed adoption could be false expectations regarding the applications of the beacon technology in the retailing context. To investigate this assumption in depth, we analyzed relevant literature to identify possible applications that beacon technology enables for brick-and-mortar retailers. We categorized the identified applications into three groups: (i) indoor navigation and localization, (ii) tracking and analyzing customer behavior and (iii) personalized and location-based advertising. Our work aims at revealing these challenges to make the true potential of beacon technology for brick-and-mortar stores transparent.

Beacon Technology for Retailers - Tracking Consumer Behavior Inside Brick-and-Mortar-Stores

The Internet of Things (IoT) is promoting innovation and creating new opportunities by turning just about anything, including consumers and actions, into a digital activity. The IoT can significantly impact the retail industry transforming the customer experience. By creating digital ecosystems, retailers are trying out novel methods to employ connected, smart systems to provide unique offerings, alter user experiences, and expand their reach. The goal of this paper is to identify different customer touch points in a retail store, research the adoption of different IoT technologies to improve customer experience in the retail industry, comprehend the impact and benefits of these technologies, and suggest potential future applications to further enhance customer experience in the retail industry. This paper adopts a case study approach, looking at several IoT use cases in the retail industry in terms of the technology used and how it affects consumer experience. Academics, professionals, and retailers can use the study to build and create solutions for the retail sector that will improve the shopping experience for customers.

Leveraging IoT Technologies in Retail Industry to improve Customer Experience: Current Applications and Future Potential

The invention is related to a platform which comprises a device having at least one screen, which enables transmitting the data created in a content database by a web server in connection with a video and enables to perform purchasing by selecting the items determined on said video.

Online video purchasing platform

This chapter shows a practical end-to-end solution that allows the integration of noninvasive location-based marketing advertisements finally binding physical and virtual in-store customer presence. The goal of the solution is to digitalize the business and improve the customer experience with the indoor proximity-based iBeacon technology for personalized marketing advertising. The architecture uses cheap battery powered iBeacon devices, Android App and a recommender system for sending noninvasive advertisement in the right moment to the right customer. The intelligent combination of loyalty programs, personalized location-based marketing campaigns, and connection to existing CRM systems will enable the desirable increase in customer loyalty by also creating ideal circumstances for custom omnichannel marketing.

Non-Invasive Personalized In-Store Location-Based Marketing: A Practical Use Case

The retail market is wide and has a lot of prospects to offer, may it be in terms of revenue or meeting the customer demands. Albeit the pros it is losing its daily or regular clientele because of the unnecessary overhead of going through the various aisles and racks to find the necessary product and then proceed to a lengthy procedure to checkout. This paper addresses one such major issue in a way that the customers benefit from and the retailers can easily increase and analyse the sales. The solution is achieved using a low energy Bluetooth Beacon that communicates with other Bluetooth devices that are within the range and hence acts as a locator. In this paper we also discuss the various use cases which can be applied in retail store to address the problems faced by the customer. Our focus is on minimal power/ resource consumption in all of the scenarios. We also discuss various algorithms and communication protocols to satisfy all the aspects of the problem statement.

Akshata Talele

Papers

Bluetooth Beacon Applications in Retail Market