Today beacons might be a pioneer thing, but it will soon change. According to Business Insider, in 2014 only 3% of companies tracked online behavior of their customers, but 72% of them declared that they will start to do so in 5 years. Beacons will become part of our reality. No surprise: as no other solution they help approach customers and respond to research online, purchase offline trend (ant to its opposite – testing and trying offline and buying online).
How does beacons work?
– Beacons are tiny devices, using Bluetooth Low Energy. They are placed in shops, offices or other venues.
– When a customer with given company’s app appears near beacon, it sends information about his own ID, signal strength and additional data back to the app. It allows to establish with great precision client’s localization.
– Beacon integrated with SALESmanago identifies customer and adds information about customer’s visit to his contact card in the system.
Solving ROPO effect
Research online, purchase offline: that’s the way millions of modern customers operate, as well as its reverse – showrooming or RoffPon, when we view and try products in real world to buy them online.
Such behavior make it difficult for marketers to communicate with customers – we just lack a lot of knowledge. Some try to fight it by encouraging customers heavily to choose one channel, but it’s tilting at windmills. Clients know well enough what benefits does switching between online and offline provides, so they’re not likely to resign from it. For marketers finding a way of tracking and monitoring both areas (and combining the data) is essential.
New level in communication with customers
Timing is the key. It’s your clients who decides, when does he want to learn about your offer. Sometimes it’s just random: the customer got near to your shop and decided to come by and take a look. Now, in that couple if minutes which he devotes to your products, you should act.
When your customer is identified in the physical store thanks to beacons, you can send him:
- Welcome notification
- Presentation of offer (personalized, based on customer’s profile)
- Discount
- Review
- Offer navigation in the shop
You can send that not only during customer’s visit in the store, but also after he leaves or when he appears near the shop.
Revolution in physical stores
With beacon technology new marketing opportunities open for shops. New payment models emerge and sellers’ role will change.
SALESmanago and beacons can be integrated with point of sale, so sellers get better insight into needs of customers which are physically present in the store. Then it will be easier for them to make recommendation. Sellers will have access to customer’s profiles and will know his purchase history, behavioral profile etc., so when combining that with direct conversations will enable to achieve unbelievable level of understanding.
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