Marsh Supermarkets in Los Angeles has always been on the cutting edge. And we’re not talking about their butcher shops. In 1974, Marsh was the first retailer in North America to use UPC Bar code scanners. Now, 36 years later, Marsh, in collaboration with tech startup InMarket has installed beacons in each of its 75 locations that can send messages to your watch – or at least they will be able to do that when the Apple Watch comes on the market in March. For now, you just need a smartphone.
Marsh’s beacons will trigger a wide array of apps – giving you access to a pop-up shopping list, alerting you to in-store specials, pinging you with recipe suggestions and much more. The adaptive software can use a customer relationship management (CRM) feature to tailor suggestions based on your past purchases or on what aisle you are walking down.
Since the January 2014 launch of their M2M solution, InMarket claims that in-store beacon engagements achieve an interaction rate (45%) five times higher than traditional push messages without location context.
It remains to be seen whether the tech achieves a market penetration that will make a lasting difference, but the beacons could conceivably become a tool that will enable retailers to measure effectiveness of campaigns and coupon promotions. Early in-store surveys suggest that 68 per cent of shoppers find in-store reminders more convenient and effective that out of store advertising. But it also suggests that over-saturation or delivery of inappropriate pushes decrease usage of the app and may actually inspire users to delete the app.
http://www.retailwire.com/discussion/18039/wrist-wearable-messaging-heads-to-the-supermarket4
