The latest stats from Swirl Networks, the company behind a number of beacon deployments at high-profile retailers, shows that shoppers in the US are embracing Bluetooth beacons and along with it Apple’s iBeacon framework for app developers sending location sensitive notifications to users. More specifically, data collected from the company’s beacon deployments in recent months shows that beacons are influencing the way we shop with more than half engaging with the feature and many redeeming beacon offers when making purchases.
“This holiday season, retailers with beacon marketing capabilities in place will have a distinct advantage over those who do not,” said Hilmi Ozguc, founder and CEO of Swirl. “Proximity marketing has the power to transform the customer experience, increase brand affinity and drive sales uplift. Early adopters are seeing remarkable results and generating highly valuable learnings that they are using to optimize future campaigns. For retailers who haven’t yet deployed beacon marketing programs, it should be a top priority for 2015.”
The report shows that many shoppers haven’t been shy about engaging with iBeacon apps with around 60 percent opening and engaging with beacon-triggered content and roughly 30% redeeming “beacon-triggered offers at the point of purchase.”
Some other stats shared by Swirl today:
The report isn’t exactly unique, but it does show what other early stats on beacon usage show. Earlier this year we noted that one brand was able to increase sales with purchase intent up 20x representing a 500x increase over average mobile ad engagement.
I wrote earlier this month that beacon networks, those that allow app developers, brands, and retailers to all take advantage of single deployment, are proving to be the best way to go for wide adoption of iBeacon app features among users. Imagine some of the stats above are based on retailers that only offer users a single app experience. Retailers opening up the experience to a long list of already in-use apps, as shown by the latest data from comScore’s Mobile Metrix, increases engagement significantly.
Swirl has deployments in a number of notable retailers in the US and Canada including Lord & Taylor, Hudson’s Bay, Urban Outfitters, Alex & Ani, Kenneth Cole and Timberland stores.
