Targeting the right customer at the right moment is an ideal goal for most customer engagement marketers. Achieving this mark of accuracy brings another level of personalization and customization to a modern customer experience that consumers now crave. A host of new digital, mobile, and social technologies is making it necessary for brands to meet these new demands. But the good news is that these same technologies are also making it possible to satisfy said demands.
Beacon technology is one way some brands are bringing a more personalized and intelligent customer experiences to shoppers. The beacon tech is new, but the potential is high, and Target has become the latest major retailer to begin testing this advanced approach to customer engagement.
Soon 50 Target stores in Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, New York City, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle will install beacons to create these relevant and convenient customer experiences. These beacons will act as a transmitter that will deliver targeted content directly to an iPhone.
By simply downloading the Target iPhone app and “opting in” to share their location, customers will receive customized push notifications about promotions and product updates.
“We’re excited to start using beacon technology to offer real-time, relevant content and services that can help make shopping at Target easier and more fun,” said Jason Goldberger, President of Target.com and Mobile.
The Target app’s homepage is called “Target Run” and it will resemble a social media newsfeed. The latest recommendations and coupons will be based on a user’s proximity to a store, prior search history, and expressed interests.
For example, in-store customers browsing clothing might receive notifications about the Target apparel that is currently trending on Pinterest. And then, as the shopper makes their way to the food section of the store, a list of available grocery promotions might move to the top their newsfeed.
“This is another way Target is bridging mobile and stores, and using digital to enhance the in-store shopping experience,” Goldberger continued. “We look forward to seeing how our guests respond to what we’ve built.”
To avoid digital fatigue and outright annoyance, Target will limit these push notifications to two per visit.
After Target sees how the new beacons perform in the first 50 stores, it plans to then continue the program’s expansion. In addition to adding locations, this will also include an expansion of app-based services.
In the near future, Target is also planning to launch another app that will allow customers to request the assistance of an employee with the push of a mobile button.