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Webinar on beacons, geofencing now available

The free webinar Using Beacon Technology and Geofencing In Your Restaurant sponsored by Splick.it and hosted by FastCasual.com earlier this week is now available for playback.

August 13, 2014

The free webinar Using Beacon Technology and Geofencing In Your Restaurant sponsored by Splick.it and hosted by FastCasual.com earlier this week is now available for playback.

Geofencing is the use of GPS to determine where a user and their device is located in relation to a particular point. Geofencing answers the question, "Who is within a half mile of this restaurant?"

Beacons are devices with use low-energy Bluetooth signals from devices to connect. When a Bluetooth-enabled device comes within 100 – 130 feet of a beacon, the two devices can communicate.

Successful deployment of geofencing and beacon technology means customers must have downloaded an app able to communicate with beacon signals, and the customers' Bluetooth, location services and push notifications must be enabled on their devices.

Pat McDevitt, senior vice president of engineering at AOL, and Danny Newman, co-founder of ROXIMITY, discussed how beacons and geofencing can be used to increase customer engagement, develop customer relationships and enhance operations.

The two, along with moderator Anke Corbin, senior vice president of marketing for Splickit, offered specific examples of successful deployment of beacon technology. Examples included:

• Pushing incentives to customers at gas pumps, enticing them to come into the convenience store to check out food offerings
• Offering seat upgrades to fans at a sporting event once they approach an escalator that would otherwise take them to their less-expensive "nosebleed" seats
• Extending special offers to potential customers lingering in front of a menu posted outside the restaurant