How beacons improve the customer experience in your event space Xsights Team - 9 February 2018 - Beacons, Events, Public Spaces

Public spaces harbor incredible opportunities to use beacons for gathering data from a multitude of population segments, tracking people and assets, and enabling effective traffic flow.

Improve Traffic flow and outlet capture

Consider a crowded sporting event. In the past, parking situations were a mess and traffic jumbles leading up to the match would prevent people from reaching their seats on time. Now the venue’s app can interact with attendees from the time they purchase tickets to educate, set expectations, direct and deliver personalized content. Upon entering the venue, the visitor can be shown, through the use of proximity beacons, the quickest route to their seat. They’ll be shown the nearest restrooms and food vendors, and maybe even see retail offers on their device as they travel from one point to the other. The app experience can even be tailored to the visitor to use their preferred language and make their visit more enjoyable.

Attendee information gathering

During the event, the beacons can learn information such as what social media platforms are used, what websites are browsed, and can even create future offers for the attendee based on that information. By understanding the attendees, the venue can then create targeted marketing offers based on segmentation. The venue will also gather valuable data about which outlets get the most traffic from attendees in which sections, and will help to tailor future marketing for effectiveness.

Conference and Trade Show Events

Large conference events leave a lot of information on the table. Proximity beacons can show which vendors get the most traffic and draw correlations between vendors based on the amount of time spent by individual attendees.

Navigation at large conferences is often a challenge too, especially when the conference center sprawls over multiple buildings. With the help of wayfinding beacons, attendees can see real time navigation to their next breakout session and know where the restrooms and services are on the way.

Speakers and other presenters have an added benefit of understanding where their attendees spend the most time during the event. If a speaker sees that 90% of their audience spend time during the trade show visiting the vendor booth for their competitor, they will have more insight into how effective their own presentation may (or may not!) have been.

Other venues and beacon deployment

Public venues throughout the world have seen the benefit of using beacons for wayfinding and learning their customers’ buying cycles. Locations such as airports, train stations and museums employ them for:

  • Language-specific navigation
  • Augmented reality assistance
  • Manage queues and traffic jams
  • Targeted offers based on websites visited while at the venue
  • Location and prominent restaurant offers
  • Enhanced interaction with exhibits
  • Emergency and Guest services
  • Ticket purchases
  • Timely departure assistance
  • Data mining for market segmentation
  • Social media engagement

Aid for the Visually Impaired

Navigation assistance for the visually impaired has been revolutionized with the help of wayfinding beacons. Because of their one-meter accuracy, directions can be given in real time to assist in everyday situations. From finding their train, to finding a restroom or even the elevator in a public venue, beacons make it possible for a person to adapt to their surroundings and feel confident in their navigation.

Peace of mind people tracking

Places like cruise ships and amusement parks use wayfinding beacons to provide convenience and peace of mind for families and travel groups. Wrist bands embedded with bluetooth identifiers can give parents peace of mind by knowing where their children are at all times. Even in places like shopping malls and resorts, where family goals may take them to different areas, families can keep track of each other and coordinate services through the app. That comfort leads to higher dollars spent on-site.

The larger application of understanding how people migrate in a venue is in its marketing efforts. For instance, if a cruise ship wishes to disperse traffic to a different beverage outlet, they can trigger a special offer to draw guests there – and then see how effective it was. On-board navigation is made simpler when passengers rely on real time directions instead of passive maps.

If you would like to understand how beacons can aid your revenue and marketing efforts, contact us at beacons@xsights.com.au for more information, or fill out the contact form here.

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