How Beaconstac Helps you Engage Users Better using iBeacon

Retail is one of the few verticals that has seen beacons drive a significant change in the way consumer experiences are offered. According to the Proxbook Q4 2016 Report, retail (at 74%) is one of the leading verticals in the proximity market, followed by shopping malls (at 68%). This is in line with the Business Insider study which stated that more than 4.5M beacons will be active by the end of 2018, with 3.5 million of them being used by retailers.

And while we have seen marketing experts voice their opinions over why beacons face a lot of challenges when it comes to consumer adoption, a recent survey of US internet users from TimeTrade found otherwise. According to the Nov 2016 survey, nearly 49% of respondents don’t mind being monitored by beacons while shopping, as long as it benefits them in some way. Not surprising, given that, 86% of consumers say personalization plays a role in their purchasing decisions.

[Tweet “49% of consumers don’t mind being monitored by beacons while shopping, as long as it benefits them”]

Taking this into account, we had recently published a blog that elaborated on the different kinds of engaging notifications that brands can send using Eddystone beacons. In this blog, we will take you through the various engaging notifications that you can send to your consumers using Beaconstac’s iBeacon platform.

[Tweet “4.5M beacons will be active by the end of 2018, with 3.5 million of them being used by retailers”]

What are the different kinds of iBeacon notifications that can be sent?

To give you a better picture, we will discuss how you can easily create some popular iBeacon campaigns for your retail store, using the Beaconstac platform. These primarily revolve around:

(a) Sending offers and deals (via Photo Card feature or Summary Card feature) that your customers just can’t refuse

(b) Directing your customers to a Youtube video or advertisement (via Media Card feature) of your choice

[Tweet “At 74% retail is one of the leading verticals in the proximity market”]

Campaign Objective

The objective of this campaign is to enhance consumer engagement at a retail store. To enable this, we will deploy four beacons that will then be used to:

(a) Notify visitors about the sale that is currently being run in the Beauty Studio section

(b) Push a customer closer to a sale when he/she is checking out the clothes/shoes/accessories on the mannequin in the Men’s Clothing Section

(c) Direct customers at the Women’s Clothing Section to check out the new video on how to style themselves using the latest collection

(d) Entice customers at the Men’s Footwear Section to check out the new arrivals of the season on your Facebook page

Step 1: Install beacons at the billing counter and beauty studio

Before we begin, the first thing to do is to purchase four beacons. You can take a look at our Beaconstac platform, that includes everything you need to get started. Using Beaconstac, you can set up your own beacon campaign, without a developer’s help.

Once you have purchased the beacons, their details such as the UUID, Major value and Minor value, will be added to the Beaconstac dashboard (by us) before we ship the beacons to you.

You can name the beacons for easy identification. For the purpose of this campaign, we have named the beacons accordingly:

(a) The beacon placed at beauty studio as ‘Beacon_Beauty Studio’

(b) The one at the men’s clothing section as ‘Beacon_ Men’s Clothing’

(d) The beacon placed at the women’s clothing section as ‘Beacon_Women’s Clothing’

Once the beacon details are added, they are ready to be installed.

Step 2: Set up the notification or card that is to be displayed

After installing the beacon, all you have to do is create a card and set up the rules on the dashboard and assign a beacon and a card to each rule. To give you a better idea of the real potential of the Beaconstac iBeacon platform, we will take you through how you can set up each of the earlier mentioned notifications:

(1) Summary Card – Notify visitors about the sale that is currently being run in the Beauty Studio section

Before we start out, it’s important to understand that this notification will primarily be displayed as a card on the visitor’s device. Cards are basically creatives that show up as a notification on the user’s mobile phone when certain conditions are met. I’m creating a Summary card titled ‘Try a Makeover for FREE’ for this campaign. Here’s all you need to do:

(i) Go to ‘Cards’ and click on ‘Add Card’.

(ii) Choose ‘Summary Card’ as the type that you would like to go ahead with. Type in a title to identify your card with ease. For the purpose of this campaign, I have titled the card ‘Try a Makeover for FREE’.

(iii) Type in the text and add an image that you want to display to your visitors. Beaconstac also allows you to edit the CTA button and the link that it redirects to. Once you have finalized on the look and text displayed on the card, save it for later use.

(iv) Next, go to ‘Rules’ and click on ‘Add Rule’. You can then title the rule as ‘Free Makeover’ and assign the ‘Beacon_Beauty Studio’ beacon to it. You can then go ahead and choose ‘Card’ as the action type and click on ‘Try a Makeover for FREE’ from the drop-down menu.

This card will be sent to all the customers who are within the range of the beacon that has been deployed at the Beauty Studio section.

(2) Photo Card – Push a customer closer to a sale when he/she is checking out the clothes/shoes/accessories on the mannequin in the Men’s Clothing Section

In this case, you need to create a card that will primarily just showcase an image and a CTA. Here is all that you need to do:

(i) Go to ‘Cards’ and click on ‘Add Card’.

(ii) Choose ‘Photo Card’ as the type that you would like to go ahead with. Type in a title to identify your card with ease. For the purpose of this campaign, I have titled the card ‘Avail 15% off on Summer Shirts’.

(iii) Now add an image that you want to display to your visitors. Beaconstac also allows you to edit the CTA button and the link that it redirects to. Once you have finalized on the look of the card, save it for later use.

(iv) Next, go to ‘Rules’ and click on ‘Add Rule’. You can then title the rule as ‘Summer shirts Offer’ and assign the ‘Beacon_Men’s Clothing’ beacon to it. You can then go ahead and choose ‘Card’ as the action type and click on ‘Avail 15% off on Summer Shirts’ from the drop-down menu.

This card will be sent to all customers who are within the range of the beacon that has been deployed at the Men’s Clothing section.

(3) Media Card – Direct customers at the Women’s Clothing Section to check out the new video on how to style themselves using the latest sportswear collection.

A media card primarily focuses on showcasing a video along with a CTA. Here is all that you need to do:

(i) Go to ‘Cards’ and click on ‘Add Card’.

(ii) Choose ‘Media Card’ as the type that you would like to go ahead with. Type in a title to identify your card with ease. For the purpose of this campaign, I have titled the card ‘Keep Fit in Style’.

(iii) Now add a video that you want to display to your visitors. Beaconstac also allows you to edit the CTA button and the link that it redirects to. Once you have finalized on the look of the card, save it for later use.

(iv) Next, go to ‘Rules’ and click on ‘Add Rule’. You can then title the rule as ‘Video on latest styles’ and assign the ‘Beacon_Women’s Clothing’ beacon to it. You can then go ahead and choose ‘Card’ as the action type and click on ‘Keep Fit in Style’ from the drop-down menu.

This card will be sent to all the customers who are within the range of the beacon that has been deployed at the Women’s Clothing section.

[Tweet “How to leverage iBeacon tech to engage your consumers with relevant videos”]

(4) Page – Entice customers at the Men’s Footwear Section to check out the new arrivals of the season on your Facebook page.

A page card primarily focuses around showcasing a webpage along with a CTA. Here is all that you need to do:

(i) Go to ‘Cards’ and click on ‘Add Card’.

(ii) Choose ‘Page’ as the type that you would like to go ahead with. Type in a title to identify your card with ease. For the purpose of this campaign, I have titled the card ‘New Arrivals in Footwear’.

(iii) Now add a link to the Facebook album that you want to display to your visitors. Beaconstac also allows you to edit the CTA button and the link that it redirects to. Once you have finalized on the look of the card, save it for later use.

(iv) Next, go to ‘Rules’ and click on ‘Add Rule’. You can then title the rule as ‘Check out the latest arrivals’ and assign the ‘Beacon_Men’s Footwear’ beacon to it. You can then go ahead and choose ‘Card’ as the action type and click on ‘New Arrivals in Footwear’ from the drop-down menu.

This card will be sent to all the customers who are within the range of the beacon that has been deployed at the Men’s Footwear section.

And we’re all set! Any customer who walks into your retail store and comes within the range of any of the four beacons will see the corresponding screen on their mobile device.

If you are looking to get started on a short pilot, head to our Beaconstac store page and invest in a set of beacons and our Premium subscription plan. You can have the campaigns up and running in less than 15 mins!