63% of shoppers can be tempted into a store by beacons

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: 63% of shoppers can be tempted into a store by beacons.

Some 63% of shoppers would be persuaded to enter a store by a push notification sent to their smart device via beacon technology, according to a survey by Vista Retail Support.

The survey, covering consumer attitudes to beacon technology, also revealed that 84% want notifications about special offers available only on that day. A similar proportion (83%) would like discount codes to be sent to their smart devices, while 61% would welcome personalised offers based on their individual preferences. Almost three-fifths (59%) said they want cashback on purchases in exchange for downloading a store's app.

"These results show that retailers who use beacon technology to send notifications could give themselves a substantial advantage in the battle for customer footfall," said Richard Cottrell, sales and marketing director, Vista Retail Support. "This power of persuasion really does work and retailers must look to new technology to attract customers. In this respect, beacons certainly present a real opportunity."

The poll revealed that 83% of consumers will block beacon messaging completely if they receive too many notifications. 71% said irrelevant messages or offers would have the same effect. The majority (54%) said they only want to receive one notification in a store.

"It is worth striking a note of caution," added Cottrell. "Retailers will almost certainly turn off more customers than they attract if they get it wrong and bombard customers with too many messages."

Among other findings in the survey, 23% of consumers welcome location-based offers, sent to them in relation to their position in-store, while nearly one in five (19%) are open to receiving style tips and ideas.