In-store marketing with Bluetooth low energy — a quick primer for retailers

Bluetooth low energy, or BLE, seems to be making tech headlines every few days. Shopkick last week said it will use Apple’s iBeacon technology to roll out its shopBeacon business to 100 American Eagle Outfitter locations in the U.S., expanding on the trial it launched in two Macy’s locations late last year. The mobile app maker inMarket used the CES stage earlier this month to announce a deal to deploy iBeacons in Safeway and Giant Eagle grocery stores. Former Vertu designer Frank Nuovo appears to be positioned to be the first to offer a similar service for Android users later this year with the launch of Datzing, which will enable retailers and other businesses to use any Wi-Fi network or Bluetooth device as a Beacon. Qualcomm jumped aboard the BLE bandwagon in December when it unveiled its own BLE-based technology, dubbed Gimbal, and PayPal launched its Beacon a few months prior.

There’s a lot to like about BLE, as I’ve written before, and its potential as a platform for location-based mobile marketing campaigns is huge. But it’s important to remember that this isn’t the first wave of enthusiasm for proximity-based mobile marketing: Some high-profile businesses started experimenting with Bluetooth (the traditional technology, not BLE) nearly a decade ago only to discover that the overwhelming majority of users weren’t interested. With that in mind, I offer some fundamental suggestions for retailers hoping to use BLE to reach their customers in unprecedented ways:

  • Educate your shoppers. Unlike those earlier Bluetooth-based marketing efforts, which simply bombarded every nearby gadget on which the technology was active, BLE campaigns are (so far, at least) app-based. So shoppers must not only have Bluetooth turned on, they must download the appropriate app to accept the content merchants are hoping to push. In-store signage is a must, of course, but creative retailers should also consider cross-promoting BLE-based efforts through traditional and digital ads, particularly via existing mobile sites and apps. Even more important than teaching your customers, though, is explaining to your floor sales staff A) what your campaign is doing, B) why it’s doing it and C) how it works. Employees must know which devices and operating systems the store’s service works with, and they should be able to walk any customer through the app.
  • Don’t be a stalker, and make your mobile content valuable and unique. Yes, BLE gives merchants a chance to poke customers an infinite number of times as they walk through the store, delivering an avalanche of offers and product information as users move from, say, the produce section to the dairy to meats and seafood. But that kind of tracking is sure to be off-putting to many consumers, so instead ping customers occasionally with truly valuable content, such as helping them use a loyalty program. Rather than duplicating the promotional and marketing information that is already posted in the store, use BLE to deliver offers and content that aren’t easily available elsewhere, and let users drill down into your app if they want specific product information.
  • Use analytics to track your campaigns, respect your customers’ privacy, and take baby steps. BLE gives mobile marketers a chance to discover what works and what doesn’t in real time. Be flexible enough to tweak your marketing content and offers based on past shopping behaviors and any other actionable data. But make sure you protect that data as closely as possible, and make it clear that you’re not keeping any unnecessary personal information. Also, while BLE has been touted by some as the obvious technology to power mobile payments, resist the urge to embrace it as a platform for transactions until it proves its worth as a marketing tool.

These are very early days for BLE as a marketing tool, of course, and its potential uses lie far beyond the world of in-store ads and location-based coupons. Retailers, ad agencies and developers who can figure out how leverage the technology effectively and judiciously will have a big edge in 2014 and beyond.

Relevant Analyst
Colin Gibbs

Colin Gibbs

Founder and Principal Peak Mobile Insights

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