Beacons Have Been Touted For Years For Retail

London’s Gatwick Airport shows us how they are using 2000 beacons for 'more relevant' messaging.

It looks like it took an airport to show us the way. Mediapost reports that the “promise of beacons in that context has been the ability to deliver more relevant messaging based on location…however, when used as a service, beacons can be used to help people get around”. Stay with me.

London’s Gatwick Airport installed 2,000 beacons across its two terminals to enable a reliable ‘blue dot’ on indoor maps along with an augmented reality wayfinding tool, so passengers can be shown directions in the camera view of their smartphone. 

Mediapost says that Gatwick is not collecting any personal data, though generic information on people densities in different beacon zone may be used to improve airport operations, such as queue management and reducing congestion. 

Just imagine the opportunities for supermarkets. Offering shoppers a foolproof tool to find products, get special offers, tie into their frequent shopper card and relieve congestion at the service departments by adding staff where needed. The applications are endless and tie the shopper retailer relationship. It’s time the folks that run our supermarkets become the “cool guys”.