Shopkick, the provider of a smartphone app that gives customers rewards for shopping at their favorite brick-and-mortar stores, recently announced that it has become the first to use Apple Inc.’s iBeacon-based presence signal to deliver rewards and discounts right to shoppers’ smartphones, according to a statement released by the company. Its shopBeacon transmitters are now live at three Macy’s locations in Herald Square, Union Square and San Francisco for a beta trial.
As shopkick users enter one of the three locations, the shopBeacon transmitter, which uses an IOS7 Bluetooth Low Energy mobile protocol, will automatically deliver personalized discount offers based on the department in which they are browsing without the user having to open the app on their smartphone. In addition, if a shopkick user has “liked” a specific product before entering the store, the app will remind them that it is available at Macy’s.
"We have made great strides in creating the best omnichannel experience at Macy's, and delivering the most relevant messages and offers to our customers at what is arguably the most helpful moment – while they are shopping in our stores – can be very advantageous for the customer," Martine Reardon, chief marketing officer at Macy’s, said in the statement. "With this shopBeacon trial, we are testing the most leading-edge mobile technologies, because we believe they can even further enhance the in-store experience for Macy's shoppers."
ShopBeacon is installed by attaching it to a wall or other flat surface and has a five-year battery life. The software kit costs $40 and can be further customized and personalized according to the needs of the retailer and its customers. Apple’s iBeacon technology debuted in June along with its IOS7 rollout, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the company has plans to roll it out soon in its on retail stores.
Shopkick is now focusing on developing iBeacon use cases for both consumers and brands, according to chief executive Cyriac Roeding. “We just solved the problem of [how to communicate with consumer in-store.] So now it’s about creating the use case on top of that,” he told StreetFightMag.com.
One challenge that shopkick may face in getting brands to utilize shopBeacon is the fact that most major retailers have already spent time and money to create and market their own branded apps, Brett Leary, group director of mobile at Digitas, told StreetFightMag.com. “They may cede control over their consumer data and their desired branded consumer experiences,” he said.
