Beacon technology is changing that. A beacon is a device that communicates with a customer’s mobile phone. When placed in a retail store, marketers can use beacons to detect the customer’s exact location, and they can engage with customers either in the store or after the visit. This could be a major marketing breakthrough, considering that over 90% of retail transactions still occur in-store, according to Yext.

Here’s how beacons could help generate sales.

Customer Engagement

With beacons, retailers have the ability to engage with customers while they’re in the store, so they can deliver relevant content based on the customer’s exact location at that moment in time. This creates opportunities to deliver ads, coupons or other specific information about the product they’re looking at, and it can also be used to direct a customer to a particular destination within the store.

Data Collection

Beacon technology also makes it possible for retailers to gather information about consumer behavior, such as how they walk around a retail location. This is a powerful way to segment customers and improve subsequent advertising or sales strategies, or even rethink a store’s physical design based on how customers navigate the aisles.

Now that beacon technology is firmly in place, it may be time to tap into the power of location to engage with mobile audiences and generate in-store sales. The ability to connect with customers in real time based on their physical location creates a host of new marketing opportunities.