In-store location-based marketing with beacons: from inflated expectations to smart use in retailing

ABSTRACT

The announcement of beacon technology in 2013 created a wave of excitement among pioneering retailers and marketing leaders, allowing them to send location-based messages to customers in-store. However, until present, the technology has not yet established a strong foothold in retailing. The present paper adopts a multi-method approach with the objective to 1) detail its main challenges in the market and 2) enlighten scholars and practitioners on smart use cases for in-store location-based marketing. The findings of the multiple data sources (i.e. review of academic and practitioner literature, in-depth interviews with retail technology experts and focus groups with consumers) allowed the authors to infer valid conclusions, along with recommendations for future research and actionable managerial advice.

KEYWORDS:

• Beacons
• location-based mobile marketing
• in-store
• retail
• indoor positioning and qualitative research

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by VLAIO (Vlaams Agentschap Innoveren & Ondernemen – Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship) under Baekeland Grant Number 150726 (‘In search of a sustainable competitive advantage: Digitally instrumenting bricks-and-mortar retailing in Flanders), which is co-funded by Digitopia N.V. (Wijnegem, Belgium). The authors would like to thank all consumers who participated in the focus groups, as well as the retail(-technology) experts who were willing to be interviewed for the objectives of this research. Additionally, we are grateful for the invaluable advice on the legal aspects of LBMA that we obtained from Mr. Tom Heremans (Partner-Lawyer at global law firm CMS and author of several must-read textbooks providing legal answers to questions originating from marketing practice). Finally, we would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Fabienne Brison (Professor of Law at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Partner-Lawyer at Hoyng Rokh Monegier) and her colleague Ine Letten (Hoyng Rokh Monegier) for their input on this matter.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephanie van de Sanden

Stephanie van de Sanden (Msc, Management, VUB) started in April 2016, as a PhD researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), in the Faculty of Social Sciences & Solvay Business School within the Business research cluster ‘Marketing & Consumer Behaviour’. She is VLAIO Baekeland mandate holder, and her research is supported by Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) and Digitopia N.V. (Belgian digital solution provider). Her research focuses on the strategic use of innovative digital technologies in bricks-and-mortar retailing.

Kim Willems

Kim Willems (PhD in Applied Economics: Business Engineer, UHasselt & VUB) is Associate Professor of Marketing at VUB. Her research pertains to retail differentiation strategies. She studied among others environmental- and evolutionary psychological effects of store atmospherics on customers and currently focuses her research around HCI in retailing and particularly the customer value and returns for business of smart retailing and service innovation. She has published among others in Journal of Business Research, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Service Management, and Technological Forecasting & Social Change.

Malaika Brengman

Malaika Brengman holds a PhD in Applied Economics (UGhent) and is Associate Professor at VUB in the Business department, where she leads the research cluster ‘Marketing & Consumer Behaviour’. Her scientific research generally focuses on the impact of store atmospherics and shopper motivations and behaviour, in offline as well as online retail contexts, with a special attention to new technologies and their impact on consumer behaviour. She has presented her findings globally at numerous conferences and has published her work in several well-respected international scientific journals