In terms of revenue, the beacon technology market generated USD 519.6 Million in the year 2016. And according to the Grand View Research, it is expected to reach USD 58.7 Billion by 2025. This massive growth of beacon-based proximity marketing isn’t merely restricted to the number of beacons being deployed across the world – it proportionately reflects on the vertical diversification, innovative use cases and more. While most marketers use beacons to push offer notifications, many businesses have pushed the envelope with beacon use cases in the last year.

With so much happening in the beacon space, it’s important to stay up-to-date with campaigns that make the most of the marketing dollars. This blog will help marketers rethink and modify their proximity marketing campaigns for 2018. I have curated a list of 11 powerful and creative beacon campaigns implemented by various businesses in 2017.  Let’s begin the ride!

Best iBeacon and Eddystone use cases in 2018

BEACON USAGE IN RETAIL INDUSTRY

1. Allrecipes provide cooking inspiration with the help of beacons

Allrecipes deployed beacons at Marc’s grocery stores in Ohio. These beacons targeted shoppers with recipe suggestions at a time when they were likely to be interested in the content.

They pushed beacon notifications with meal recommendations and recipes that required the featured products on sale. This addressed two major concerns for the customer – firstly, helping them decide what to cook for dinner and second, managing the grocery bill.

Allrecipes’ mobile view went up to 26M – 35.9M per month by utilizing beacons for location-based marketing.

2. Shopping mall Lyngby Storcentre in Denmark launched beacon treasure hunts

This shopping mall in Denmark found the best way to keep kids entertained and occupied while their parents shopped. They used an app “GeoTrail GO” to set up an indoor treasure hunt with indoor maps and holiday-themed games. This treasure hunt kept kids engaged in finding virtual treasures and earning points.

This beacon treasure hunt not only gave parents a bit more time and space to shop but also allowed business owners to experience a boost in revenue.

3. Retail hypermarket Auchan leverages beacons for wayfinding and more

Ukrainian hypermarket, Auchan, started with a beacon pilot in Dec 2016 and kept adding new campaigns to go all strong in 2017. The hypermarket makes use of beacons to enable customers to receive notifications for wayfinding and promotions as they move through the store.

This is a particularly large store (31,000 sq feet), which made it a challenge to capture the customer’s attention and provide a smooth shopping experience. The hypermarket is tackling these challenges by using beacons.

Auchan gives an option to its consumers to navigate themselves through the store with the help of an indoor map. As the consumers click on “VIEW ON MAP”, the map directs them to aisles or products they desire.

Read more about 25 retailers nailing it with their proximity marketing campaigns.

BEACON USE CASES IN BARS AND RESTAURANTS

4. Martini made “smart cubes” that informs the bartender when you need a refill

Italian alcohol brand Martini has created a Smart Cube, that helps bar owners manage crowd efficiently and give its visitors an amazing experience.

The smart cube is built with ibeacon technology that sends a Bluetooth message to the bartender when the visitor’s glass hits a slurping point. The cube gives the bartender the exact location of the visitor so that she can enjoy her drink without having to leave her seat.  

The company hopes to expand the features available on the Smart ice cube in the future. It is quite interesting to see how they utilize location-based data to improve dining experience!

Read more about how beacons supercharge marketing at bars and restaurant. And a host of beacon campaigns to improve engagement

EDDYSTONE BEACON USE-CASES IN PUBLIC FACILITIES

5. Google uses over 2,000 Beaconstac beacons at railway stations in India

Google kick-started the Railwire project in 2016 with 100 railway stations in India. In 2017, they expanded the project to 2000 railway stations across India. This project was executed alongside India Railways and RailTel with the mission of rolling out free and high-speed WiFi at railway stations.

When travellers were at stations and near beacons, they received silent notifications about how to connect to the free WiFi. Google is witnessing an average click-through-rate of 8-10% and has sent a million notifications already! Such high CTRs are a result of Eddystone beacon campaigns which do not need an app at the user’s end (UPDATE: Nearby Notifications will no longer be supported on Android smartphones after December 6 2018. Please read this blog post to understand how you can continue running proximity marketing campaigns through beacons).

Become an expert with Eddystone beacon campaigns with our comprehensive guide

iBEACON USE-CASES IN PUBLIC FACILITIES

6. Buses in Luxembourg leverage beacons to push bus schedules

Beacons are deployed on buses running in the city of Luxembourg. These beacons push notifications about buses going in that direction. The notifications are received on an app – VdL. The app uses ibeacon technology to push notifications.    

To make lives easier for passengers who have the vision problem, the message on the notification can be read aloud.

7. Tom Jobim International Airport in Brazil installs 3,000 BLE beacons to offer turn-by-turn navigation

Rio spent $600M to push the airport experience to the next level before the Olympics. For visitors who were flying to Brazil for the first time, the beacons offered a turn-by-turn navigation within the airport. Not just that, the passengers could also check flight timings, find their way to the taxi stand and pay for parking. These beacons also guided the first time passengers to pharmacies and eating outlets at the airport.

Furthermore, the app also sent push notifications to the passenger’s smartphones, keeping them updated about the shortest security check queue and a real-time check on the flight status.

To achieve the kind of widespread reach, the authorities enabled 3000 beacons across the airport terminals.    

8. Gatwick Airport leveraged 2,000 beacons for indoor navigation

UK’s Gatwick airport, the second of London’s airports, invested $3.3 Billion in modernizing the infrastructure. It aims at simplifying the passenger experience and optimizing operations at the airport.

They installed 2,000 beacons to offer an indoor navigation and augmented reality wayfinding service that guides passengers to specific locations within the airport terminal via overlay arrows in the camera view of their smartphones. Not only do the beacons act as a potential fix for navigation at places that are not typically reachable via GPS services, but also makes it easier for the passengers to locate check-in areas, departure gates, baggage belts etc.

9. The Changi Airport in Singapore taps mobile beacons to automate immigration checks

The Changi Airport is on a major do-it-yourself drive. From self-check-in to bag tagging and automatic immigration checks, they are using beacon technology to make the airport more efficient and capable of handling the growing number of passengers without compromising on the service standards.

Along the way, passengers are also informed about retail and other commercial offerings. They are also offered navigations of the airport wherever required.

Read more about how airlines can use beacons to enhance travel experiences

iBEACON USE CASES IN REAL ESTATE

10. Makelaarij Hoekstra uses beacon technology in real estate

The Dutch real estate agency Makelaarij Hoekstra has 4 offices in Leeuwarden, Heerenveen, Sneek and Joure. They serve the entire province out of these 4 offices. To build the reach and improve the lead generation process, Makelaarij Hoekstra decided to use beacon technology.

They deployed beacons on sale signs, near homes (properties), at the real estate offices and at events. These beacons push notifications to a visitor’s smartphone and instantly inform them about the property. These notifications also had guided tours, images of the property and more.

10 ways real estate in using beacons and you too should give it a shot

BEACON TECHNOLOGY IN LIBRARIES

11. Port Clinton’s library used beacons to enhance reader’s experience

Ida Rupp Public Library in Port Clinton built a new app with ibeacon capabilities. This app was available for Apple, Android and Amazon smartphones. The app could do a host of things for the readers. Beacon technology added the extra layer to the services. Beacon notifications informed readers about the app capabilities –

• Have their library card digitally available on their phones.
• Search the catalogue on their phones and put a book, music CD or movie on hold.
• Renew items before they become overdue.
• Check library events, add an event to your calendar and share events with others.
• Book a library meeting room for an event.

Read about more ways of enhancing the experience at a library

What will 2018 bring to Bluetooth beacon technology? Stay tuned for more insights, updates, and changes to the industry!

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 Basic subscription plan. You can have the campaigns up and running in less than 15 mins!