CheckBonus and Open Service, shopping in the store you do with it … – Wired.it

Thanks to Beacon and proximity marketing, tenders arrive on your smartphone at the time of entering a shop, changing the shopping experience

Posted:

June 13, 2014

Surely you’ve heard of iBeacon – the new technology created by Apple and introduced with the release of iOS 7 with the aim of enhancing services microgeolocalizzazione for mobile devices – but maybe you have not quite clear what it is for real.

Is it fair to say a few words about this kind of technology before you fully understand the potential of use, because its characteristics can really influence its spread in the future. iBeacon uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) introduced with the 4.0 standard, which allows him to transfer data processed through a GPS signal while maintaining low energy consumption. The operation is quite simple: all you need is an iPhone with an app installed iBeacon-ready and a transmitter (beacon) in the neighborhood, and it is thus possible to receive content based on the location in which you are located or make payments. The main feature that differentiates it from the NFC technology which is standard on nearly all Android devices, the range is up to 20 centimeters for NFC, over 50 meters for iBeacon.

(Image: kontakt.io)

an example? The Starbucks app detects the presence of their favorite coffee shop nearby and offers you screen your loyalty card, to pay directly with your smartphone.

The transition from the desktop to the smartphone as a tool main connectivity is leading purely online shopping at ‘ everywhere commerce So you can make purchases offline with the help of coupons or information retrieved instantly via mobile or online while you’re ahead in a shop window.

The first to take advantage of this kind of technology, then, are those that deal with proximity marketing ( proximity marketing ) , a marketing technique – certainly not new – it operates in a territory circumscribed by exploiting type of visual communication technologies and mobile to promote the sale of products and services. This marketing technique is not acting on a well defined set of users, but on the people who are in a specific area and are close to a particular device; in practice a modern version of the distribution of leaflets that can become interactive with the most advanced proximity marketing devices.

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the total value of the mobile advertising market based on location (LBA) will grow from 1.2 billion euro in 2013000000000-10.7000000000 euro in 2018. This then corresponds to 38.6% of all advertising and mobile marketing . The marketing and advertising of proximity will thus approximately 7% of digital advertising , or 2% of the total global ad spend for all media.

(Source: Berg Insight)

Surely the entrance of the beacon-based Bluetooth low energy has given a boost. “The concept Bluetooth marketing has been reinvigorated after the introduction of Apple dell’iBeacon in 2013 ,” said Rickard Andersson, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. Although so far it has been little used, Berg Insight expects that the adoption of beacons will take off in 2014 when retailers launch innovative marketing programs and taking advantage of the opportunity to analyze how customers are around and they stop in shops and lanes.

How many and what are the Italian statup that have begun to develop initiatives app or using this technology? We have selected two already very active on the national market.

CheckBonus, collection points that says goodbye to stamps

Established about a year ago, is the brainchild of CheckBonus take advantage of your smartphone to increase pedestrian traffic in the store . “ Physical retail is 90% of the volume of trade and is suffering incredibly for the growth of online” , says Pierluigi Cottages, co-founder along with Yuri Ceschindi of this project, supported between ‘ Another Kontakt.io, a company that develops physically iBeacon. “ And so we started to think about various models: that of Foursquare, one of couponing and finally we landed at Shopkick model that has proven to be an incredible traffic generator and sales for the U.S. retail . The idea that it is coming out that is an app for smartphones that uses the metaphor of collection points and rewards users when they enter the store and interact with the products inside. A mix of loyalty and proximity marketing , “continues Cottages.

The goal of the project is to create a comprehensive marketing platform that will accompany you throughout the path to purchase, outside and inside the store, using all the technologies required to achieve this goal: the notifications geofencing proximity marketing to in-store through iBeacon.

What is it, then, in two words CheckBonus? It is an app that works like a loyalty card allows you to earn points, and the points get prizes and promotions, simply entering in the stores of the chains convention. Currently the major chains that have joined are: MarcoPolo Expert, Adidas, and Coin (from 23 June). CheckBonus caters well to both players in the game: for buyers is a system that allows you to accumulate points quickly and get rewards automatically with your smartphone. For chains is generator store traffic and a marketing platform: when the user enters the store CheckBonus turns into a proximity marketing tool that rewards when the user interacts with the point of sale and products inside.

​​ Open Service recluting thanks to the beacon

Established in 2011, Open Service is a company specialized in Verona loyalty and customer profiling, thanks to a proprietary platform capable to easily integrate with all the tools available today for the interaction with the customer. “ Born immediately the need to experience as much as possible with the iBeacon” , confesses Alessia Grandis, CEO and co-founder of the Open Service, “with the Wi-Fi and all the other innovations that can create new forms of relationship marketing but with an eye always focused on predictive marketing, which already sees many solutions implemented in the United States “.

All brands looking to increase traffic in the stores, acquire new customers, increase the average receipt. To do this, Open Service takes advantage of new technologies, allowing the brand and the consumer to relate to, to know each other and create customer loyalty, studying with the client a comprehensive marketing plan to be implemented through various technological tools, especially taking advantage of the growth factor of the diffusion of smartphones.