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From Fiction To Reality The Evolution Of Beacon Technology

Technology is advancing Attendant Design at a rapid pace, gradually turning every science fiction into reality. Beacon technology is one of those technological advancements that was once a figment of the imagination of many researchers. So, let’s look at how beacon technology is evolving and changing our business world.

From Fiction To Reality The Evolution Of Beacon Technology 1

What is a Beacon?

A Beacon is a tiny, battery-powered, wireless, low-cost sensor with a built-in Bluetooth chip that works on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It allows Bluetooth-enabled devices to receive data within short distances. Beacon device is designed to be easy to fix anywhere and can be efficiently used by everyone. It continuously broadcasts a radio signal, and when a device receives this signal, it reads the beacon’s ID and triggers the action in the smartphone app based on the beacon’s proximity. What makes a beacon technology different is its ability to “wake up,” an app that is not open but downloaded on the Smartphone.

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Deep Dive into Beacon Technology

Most beacons use BLE technology / Bluetooth Smart Technology as it requires low energy consumption and common implementation costs. However, the technology only allows for small amounts of data transmission, which is why most beacons only transmit their IDs.

Beacon IDs consist of three values:

Universally unique identifier (UUID)

Major value
Minor value
The purpose of transmitting the ID is to distinguish a beacon from all other beacons in a network. Major and Minor values are the integer values assigned to the beacon for greater accuracy in identification. The beacon also carries information about its signal power to determine the proximity of the source.

iBeacon

iBeacon is a brand name created by Apple Inc., first presented at the World Wide Developer’s Conference in 2014 as part of Apple’s iOS 7. It is a technology innovation of Apple that has been implemented in the location framework in iOS 7 and newer operating systems. As described above, iBeacon uses BLE technology to sense proximity and transmit a UUID, which triggers an action in a compatible app or operating system.

Eddystone – A Game Changer

In response to iBeacons, Google developed its beacon project called Eddystone on July 14, 2015, with a more open and flexible approach. Eddystone is Google’s open-source, cross-platform BLE beacon format. While Apple’s iBeacon only works with iOS devices, Eddystone works with Android and iOS devices. Unlike iBeacons, they broadcast their UUID and pre-programmed web page URLs and thus don’t require the installation of specific apps. The URL could be a regular web page providing relevant information, e.g., a beacon next to a restaurant can broadcast a link to a YouTube clip or specialty menu. Certainly, Eddystone will bring in new IoT use cases.

Beacons Empowered

With this drastic rise in beacon technology, companies are investing in this technology to generate greater revenues. Here, I have given a brief detail about how the retail industry utilizes and avails of the benefits of beacon technology.

Smart Retail

The rapidly growing e-commerce industry has resulted in a decrease in footfall and in-store sales for small-time retailers and big brands. In-stores have understood that they must mimic e-commerce in personalized offers and shopping experiences. Thus, Retail is a critical area where beacons are expected to bring a huge impact – from proximity marketing to contactless payments to in-store analytics. As a result, 85% of the retail industry is expected to leverage beacon technology by the end of 2016. Beacons may seem like hype today, but let’s have a glance at a few of its revolutionary aspects.

Beacons send location awareness alerts, updates on merchandise/products, and promotional notifications to tempt a passerby to enter the store. It can also analyze customers who walk past the store and their visit duration. This analysis will help in making strategic decisions on the product display.

Beacons use in-store navigation and provide real-world analytics like:

  • The areas and items a customer likes to explore
  • Where a customer spends most of their time
  • What and when s/he makes a purchase
  • Most in-store rushed locations
  • In-store deserted locations
  • Busiest days of the store

Number of people who walk into their store per day

These data provide insight into customer behavior and store performance. This analysis will help retailers organize their products and prices and place their products in strategic locations on strategic days and times. In addition, by knowing the repeated visitors to the store, retailers can reward those customers with loyalty benefits for their purchases. Beacon makes a customer’s in-store journey personalized and unique. It fetches data from the wish list and notifies him when he comes across that particular product. It also recommends products based on price, quality, and offers to provide a better in-store experience.

Customers who have already set up their payment information through their Smartphones can use a connected beacon and complete their purchase by processing their payment (a.k.a contactless payment) without waiting in long queues. When a payment is made, the stock will be automatically updated.

Beacon technology is spreading gradually in the retail space; it is being adapted to various other sectors like Hotels, the Airline industry, Football Leagues, B2B arenas, and more. Beacons help businesses to attract more customers and to understand the demands of their potential customers. It is a cost-effective and targeted marketing technique that promotes your sales and generates higher revenues.

Roberto Brock
the authorRoberto Brock
Snowboarder, traveler, DJ, Swiss design-head and HTML & CSS lover. Doing at the nexus of art and purpose to develop visual solutions that inform and persuade. I'm a designer and this is my work. Introvert. Coffee evangelist. Web buff. Extreme twitter advocate. Avid reader. Troublemaker.