Creating a new way to engage shoppers at specific in-store locations where they often pause, U.K.-based startup Iconeme has released a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon system that enables store mannequins to transmit data to customers. The VMBeacon solution consists of a beaconing device installed inside a mannequin that transmits a signal to the Bluetooth reader built into a consumer’s phone. In that way, individuals who pass in front of mannequins, either in a store or at a store window, can receive information about the garments that mannequin is wearing, including sizes, colors, prices, coupons and online buying options.
Iconeme was launched by retail entrepreneurs Jonathan Berlin and Adrian Coe, who also own Universal Display, a provider of mannequins and related products and services. A store can install Iconeme’s beacons in its existing mannequins, or purchase Universal Display mannequins with the beacons already built in.
“We wanted to bridge the gap between bricks and mortar and the virtual world,” says Berlin, who is also Universal Display’s managing director. Shoppers often use their smartphones, he notes, to browse through products while at a store, looking at options, for example, that could lead them to purchases from other businesses. The VMBeacon solution allows those shoppers to browse information about a product in front of them.
Users first download the Iconeme application, which is currently available at the Apple iTunes website, Berlin says, and is expected to be made available for Android phones in the near future. When an individual walks within range of a beacon, either on the street or within a store, the phone (as long as it is powered on) will receive a notification when in range of a VMBeacon. Alerts can also be issued if coupons related to the products within range of that shopper’s phone are available. If the shopper opens the app, the phone can then begin receiving transmissions from the beacons about the products displayed on those mannequins, at a distance of up to 100 meters (328 feet).
Because the beacons can transmit at any time of day, shoppers can interact with the system and thereby collect information about an item they see being worn by a mannequin in a shop window, for example, even if the store is closed. They can then be prompted to make a purchase online, and they can share that information with friends or family members via e-mail or social media. In addition, the data can be saved so that a consumer can view a particular product’s details at a later date, and make a purchase if he or she is still interested.
The solution, developed over the course of the past year, became available last month. The company is currently in discussions with multiple retailers about the possibility of providing the beacon data to customers at their stores.
“The technology allows retailers to engage customers with a new digital experience when shopping in, or passing by, a store,” Berlin explains. When the store is closed, he adds, “The shop window becomes a constant interactive selling point.”
When it comes to data linked to each beacon’s ID, Berlin says, the retailer “can choose what information is made available, and also has access to analytic reports to gain customer insight and help increase sales.”
For example, the VMBeacon server not only sends promotional information to shoppers’ phones, but also collects data indicating how often transmissions are received by phones, when this occurs and from which mannequins, thereby enabling the store to better understand consumer interest. If shoppers provide personal information, such as their age and gender, to the Iconeme phone app, that data can also be used to provide a profile of the demographics interested in specific products, as well as determine whether a subsequent purchase was made online.
After purchasing Iconeme’s beacons to install in their own mannequins, or purchasing Universal Display’s RFID-enabled mannequins, retailers would pay a monthly fee for the VMBeacon service, Berlin says. “Fashion retailers are the primary target,” he states, “and key markets are Europe and the USA, to begin with.”