Macy's Begins Testing iBeacons in its New York and San Francisco Stores [Video]

Macy's has become the first major retailer to deploy iBeacons via a partnership with Shopkick. iBeacons are a new class of low-powered, low-cost transmitters that can notify nearby iOS 7 devices of their presence, providing apps with a whole new level of location awareness, such as trail markers in a park, exhibits in a museum, or product displays in stores.

Shopkick's shopBeacon is currently live in a closed beta trial at Macy’s Herald Square, New York and Union Square, San Francisco.

ShopBeacon can welcome a shopper when she enters a store and show her location-specific deals, discounts, recommendations, and rewards, without her having to remember to open the app. It can also tie at-home browsing to in-store benefit—if she “likes” a specific product in the app, shopBeacon can remind her when she enters the store that sells it. It can also deliver department-specific offers throughout the store—so the boots she liked show up at the most useful time—in the Shoe department. ShopBeacon requires minimal investment, can be installed by sticking the device on a wall or other flat surface, and has a battery life of five years. Now available for purchase nationwide, it works with the shopkick app with its 6 million+ shoppers, as well as with retailers’ own apps.


MLB has also demonstrated the deployment of iBeacons at one of its stadiums. More information on that here.

Check out the video below for more details on Shopkick's deployment.