Published on August 13th, 2015 | by Guest

Bluetooth LE & Beacons: A new retailer and consumer experience

Smartphone applications have been using location based services to improve the user experience since a long time now; but still there have been limitations to what all they can do. The modern smartphone users spend a great deal of time indoors and the indoor spaces block the phone signals sometimes, making the location detection through GPS somehow difficult.

A solution to this problem has recently made space for itself in the technology world with its name dubbed as Beacon. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to allow its sensors to detect-within inches. This leaves a big opportunity for the transformation of enterprises, transit systems, retailers and event organizers. Mobile Beacons are a big step technological advancement capable of opening doors for groundbreaking services enhancing the user experience. Similarly, it can also create a new market for the retailers, who can use it to target the customers better. Thus, some retailers have also started offering mobile payments enabled by Bluetooth Low energy Beacons and many are planning to step towards embracing it.

The potential advantages of BLE Beacons are almost endless. Let’s see what benefits the retailers can enjoy adapting the Beacon Mobile payment technology:

Offering BLE Beacons mobile payment facility, retailers can become notified of the customers’ presence, pull-up their profile to greet them by name. All this helps in giving a more personalized, contextual experience and establishing a relationship with the customer.
Offering value, in return to the access to the customer’s smartphone location data can let the retailers take their business to new heights with a huge consumer database.
As the entire world is hunting for convenience, the cost-effective ease of convenience offered by BLE Beacons is undoubtedly going to be willingly accepted by the consumers and thus, the retailers can get a huge percentage of consumers for it.
Sensing consumer presence personalized marketing and promotions can be done through shopping deals, coupons etc. to further increase the sales.

The Mobile Methods

Merely for the sake of convenience nobody is going to adapt any kind of mobile wallet system as, even you’d agree that it’s not that hard to take out a card or even cash. Loyalty points and rewards could be the key to unlock the Beacon Mobile payment technology’s success.

Many mobile payment methods have got their success due in part of their loyalty programs. Thus if any kind of loyalty and reward is associated with BLE Beacons mobile payment, the increase in demand will lead automated global acceptance at the consumer’s end.

The retailers are seeking mobile wallets that can be used on multiple smartphone platforms- iOS as well android. Thus, iBeacons and Beacons can aptly suit to the requirement and excitingly capture the space.

Beacon mobile payment technology is still relatively a new concept but, it is gradually gaining popularity. Many retailers have already started using iBeacons, and the critical impacts are being guessed by everyone familiar with it. While many around us have started believing that Beacons could revolutionize consumerism; the lingering question remains on how many consumers will adapt this new trend.

Author: Mahindra Comviva Team

Mahindra Comviva is the global leader in providing mobility solutions. It is a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra and a part of the USD 16.5 billion Mahindra Group. With an extensive portfolio spanning mobile finance, content, infotainment, messaging and mobile data solutions, Mahindra Comviva enables service providers to enhance customer experience, rationalize costs and accelerate revenue growth. Its mobility solutions are deployed by over 130 mobile service providers and financial institutions in over 90 countries, transforming the lives of over a billion people across the world.

Tags: beacons, bluetooth, consumer, experience, LE, new, retailer