The market for beacon technology is expected to witness 80% growth over 2018-2024. This is mainly attributed to the penetration of smartphones and other smart devices that are Bluetooth equipped. While beacon technology is often linked to retail marketing strategies, there are plenty of other verticals that are enjoying success with BLE beacons.

Based on our customer and reseller data, here are the five verticals that employ beacon technology with tremendous success –

1. Education:

Beacons in educational institutes have seen a lot of different use-cases. From simple navigation to making taking attendance easier, beacons have improved the quality of life for both students and professors in schools and universities.

On-campus navigation

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BLE beacons can make finding the location of classes, labs and other venues easier. This is especially great for new students who have a hard time locating their class. Navigation also comes in handy for visitors, parents and during inter-school/university fests.

Identification of books in the library  

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Students and teachers can also utilize beacons to find books in the library. Beacons can give specific information about the books such as shelf information, availability, and whether it is in circulation.

Related: 6 ways to enhance the experience at a library with beacon technology

Improving in-Class experiences

Taking attendance and making sure every student is in the class takes up a lot of time every day. But, with beacons, students can check-in to a class, and their attendance gets marked automatically.

Beacons also turn smartphones into second-screens. This is a very convenient tool for lecturers who want to make the class more interactive.

Even handing out class notes is easy with beacon technology. A simple notification can prompt students to download and access their important notes.

Announcements made easier

Instead of using the PA system, announcements can be made via beacon technology. Students can be informed of all important events or meetings happening in the institute.

Emergency Alerts

In case of a natural disaster or other kinds of emergency, beacon technology provides a rapid and efficient way of letting everyone on-campus know about it. These notifications can also contain information about what steps to follow and where to assemble.

Texas A&M University has deployed both indoor and outdoor beacons across its Zachry building and Engineering Quad. These beacons work in conjunction with an app called ‘EngiNEARME’ that provides navigation to students and is soon going to be updated with many more functionalities.

Here’s how you can create an Eddystone campaign for universities.

2. Restaurants and Bars:

The annual sales in the restaurant industry are $799 billion, but according to The Perry Group Study, most restaurants close during their first year of operation. This is surprising considering 51% of diners go out to eat more than once a week. But, when you factor in that there are over a million restaurants in the U.S., it starts to make sense.

Helping diners make choices

When consumers are given too many choices, they often delay or opt-out of making a decision. That is where proximity marketing and beacon technology can help. Prompting diners to check out a restaurant close to them can help them make that choice. 73% of diners report that restaurant technology improves their experience.

Improving diner experience

Once inside a restaurant, BLE beacons can be deployed to welcome diners. They can also act as hosts and guide diners to their tables. Beacon technology can also augment servers and make ordering food a breeze. Beacons can also be used to inform diners of the new specials or any new addition to the restaurant. Integrating beacon technology in restaurants is an excellent strategic move because 61% of adults say that they would rather spend money on an experience, such as a restaurant, compared to buying items from a store.

Take away made easier and efficient

When placing an online order, patrons like to use the restaurant’s website or app rather than a third-party app. BLE beacons can be integrated with the restaurant app and let the restaurant know when a patron is close by and make sure their order is ready on-time. This improves the takeaway experience for consumers because they do not have to wait long to pick up their food.

Marketing to new potential customers

Restaurants that make a lot of deliveries can also leverage beacon technology to drum up new business. Giving their delivery executives a portable beacon like the keychain beacon enables them to notify other potential customers of the restaurant and the latest offers.

Kaching, an India based startup, has partnered with over 350 restaurants and uses BLE beacons to give users discounts and deals. The Kaching app pushes notifications as soon as customers enter a restaurant and inform them of the various deals that they can avail of.

Related: Beacons to supercharge your bar & restaurant marketing strategy

3. Healthcare and Medicine

The healthcare industry always embraces new technology that can improve the quality of health care provided to patients. Beacon technology is no different. Integrating BLE beacons in hospitals and pharmacies can revolutionize healthcare.

Personalization with wearables

Beacon notifications with wearable technology can be customized based on the patients’ current health records. This can be as simple as a suggestion to use the stairs rather than the elevator or as complex as advising patients to take their medication on time.

Navigation inside hospitals and pharmacies

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Beacon technology can make navigating hospitals very simple. Finding medication in a pharmacy can also be made more efficient with the use of BLE beacons. Beacons can provide vital information such as where a certain medication is located, availability, side-effects and what the medication is for.

Improved Analytics

Using beacon technology in conjunction with an app can prove to be a treasure trove of information. This can be quite useful to researchers and doctors alike that can monitor patients and fine-tune their recommendations based on their habits.

The Leiden University Medical Centre has been deploying beacons using iBeacon technology to treat patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction to track how long it takes for patients in cardiac arrest to receive a balloon angioplasty treatment to improve the survival rate of patients.

Related: How Beacons can Revolutionise Healthcare

4. Entertainment

Beacon technology has seen a lot of use in the entertainment industry – at concerts, live shows and movie theatres. Apart from providing basic navigation and promoting various events, BLE beacons can be used for several other purposes.

Alerts to an event nearby

Beacon technology can be used to maximize foot traffic for local events by sending out notifications to people in the vicinity of the event. Given that people tap, swipe and click on their phone an average of 2,617 times a day, using beacons is quite apt.

Making payments and delivery easy

The long lines at concession stands at events and concerts can be done away with using BLE beacons. Integrating them with an app can allow event-goers to order and pay from wherever they are. The beacon powered apps can alert concession stands can let them know when the customer has arrived to pick up their order. They can also make the delivery to their assigned seats at a concert.  

Navigation powered by beacons

In huge concerts, there is a high chance that concert-goers can get lost. Using beacons to provide navigation capabilities makes it more accurate than GPS. The navigation can also let concert-goers know where the next show is or where they can buy T-shirts.

Promoting recently released movies

Since Netflix and other streaming services have gained popularity, the number of movie-goers has dropped considerably. In 2017, movie theater attendance fell to its lowest point since 1992 in U.S. and Canada. Utilizing BLE beacons to promote movies to consumers in the vicinity can help get them in the door. Integrating beacon technology fully into the movie-going experience can also bring in more movie lovers because innovation is a critical feature in improving the movie theater experience. Beacons can help people pay for their tickets without standing in lines, order snacks to their seats and even get inside scoop on the movie that they are watching.

The Reeperbahn Festival utilizes beacons to manage its 600 acts, workshops and activities across 70 locations. Beacons act as an automatic logbook storing which acts and events an attendee watched curating those moments into a personalized guest book.

Related: 3 Beacon Campaigns You can Take Inspiration From

5. Automotive

From auto car shows to car dealerships, the automotive industry has been using beacon technology with considerable success. BLE beacons have made it possible to gather crucial data and sell cars more efficiently.

Auto-shows and wayfinding

The North American Auto Show is a huge venue and attendees tend to get lost because of this. Beacon technology is a huge help as it can help attendees find their way by checking off the areas that have already been explored.

Car dealerships

Beacons can augment salespersons, track interest during non-business hours and push progressive web apps for easier service to car owners. Beacon technology can enhance customer service and ensure customer loyalty and retention.

Related: A definitive guide to beacon proximity marketing in car dealerships

Booking test drives

Jaguar used historic location data and BLE beacons to find out previous Jaguar owners who had recently visited a showroom to send them notifications about booking a test drive.

Want to integrate beacon technology into your business or sell beacon solutions to these industries? Try Beaconstac, an end-to-end solution with an intuitive platform that works seamlessly with BLE beacons.

• Author Details

Author Details

Sneh Ratna Choudhary

Sneh is a Content Marketing Manager at Beaconstac and has a penchant for all things tech and startups that improve human lives. She adores dogs, Radiohead, and Michael Gary Scott.

[email protected]