Beacon Technology for Restaurants - Personalizing the On-Premise Experience

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BEACONS AND THE PERSONALIZATION OF

ON-PREMISE EXPERIENCE

LEARN HOW TODAY’S “SMART RESTAURANTS” ARE USING ADVANCED PROXIMITY TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE PERSONALIZED GUEST EXPERIENCES

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THE ROCKBOT INSIGHT You’re walking in the front door of your business. What is the ideal experience? Are you greeted when you arrive? Are you assisted exactly when you need help? Do you receive an offer or reward based on your acGons? Today’s most successful restaurant chains have established a pracGce of envisioning their customers’ in-‐store experience from first impression to last, and are increasingly uGlizing technology to make that experience smoother, more personal, and more memorable. But how much can technology actually personalize an in-‐store experience? How can you make each customer happy, when they each have their own personaliGes, preferences, and reasons for visiGng on a given day? While online interacGons with your customers have become hyper-‐personalized via email, social media, and mobile targeGng, it’s been more challenging to create a truly personal guest experience on premise.

UnGl now. With the arrival of beacon technology, every single brick and mortar business—from restaurant chains to retail stores—has a powerful new tool at its disposal. Imagine creaGng a customized experience for each of your guests because your on-‐premise technology system knows when they walk in the door. Imagine a future where your brand automaLcally interacts with a customer throughout their visit, enabling them to experience exactly what they want because you know they’re there. In this guide, you will learn the current best pracGces of on-‐premise proximity technology for restaurants, and find answers to the following quesGons. How exactly do beacons work and how are they different from GPS? How do they relate to my customers’ mobile devices and my restaurant’s current in-‐store technologies? What are some successful examples of beacons at restaurants, and what would an implementaGon look like?

IMAGINE YOU ARE YOUR CUSTOMER

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Standard GPS calculates a user’s locaGon, but the range limits have meant lost opportuniGes. Your smartphone may know you’re in a store, but can it greet you when you walk in? Track your behavior? Suggest purchases? Beacon technology was developed to overcome the inherent limitaGons of satellite-‐based locaGon informaGon in a world where smartphones are primarily used indoors. Think of beacon technology as smarter, indoor GPS using Local PosiGoning Modules instead of Global PosiGoning Satellites. Low-‐powered and low-‐cost beacons are small computers with Bluetooth transceivers that can run for over two years on a small coin baUery. Placed on virtually any surface (e.g. walls, shelves), beacons broadcast and receive Bluetooth Low Energy (or BLE) signals from a range of two inches to 230 Z. (~70 meters). Smartphones can pick up these signals and (using a beacon’s unique ID tag), calculate the distance to each beacon in range—even if the phone is locked or a given app is not currently running—and then trigger an app to perform various funcGons.

WHAT IS BEACON TECHNOLOGY?

FROM GPS TO BLUETOOTH

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THE BEACON BOOM $40 BILLION IN SALES While many restaurants and retail stores are already uGlizing beacons, widespread adopGon is anGcipated closer to the end of 2015 and 2016. To date, the primary barrier to adopGon by consumers has been a lack of uGlizaGon by businesses, but that chicken-‐and-‐egg conundrum is about to be cracked. Tech giants like Apple and PayPal, as well as startups like Kontakt.io, EsGmote, GeLo, and Swirl, have developed a range of hardware and soZware to engage businesses and their customers like never before. This explosion of supply has lowered the price and increased the ease-‐of-‐use and funcGonality of beacons to the point that they are within reach for even small restaurants. With more than 90% of sales sGll occurring in physical businesses (as opposed to online), and a majority of consumers using their mobile devices during their visit, restaurants, stores, and adverGsers will have a unique opportunity to engage and influence customers where and when it maUers most—on premise at the point of purchase.

Industry analysts have predicted beacon ubiquity within a few years. A Business Insider Intelligence study predicts that U.S. on-‐premise sales “influenced by beacon-‐triggered messages” will jump from $4.1 billion in 2015 to $44.4 billion in 2016. Research firm Gartner states that “Internet of things installed base will grow to 26 billion units by 2020,” while ABI Research one-‐upped them predicGng that “more than 30 billion devices will wirelessly connect to the Internet of everything in 2020.”

2015 2016

$44.4 BILLION

$4.1 BILLION

ON-PREMISE SALES DRIVEN BY BEACONS

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MEET THE EXPERTS LIGHT HARDWARE, CUSTOM SOFTWARE Apple’s entry into the beacon market is likely the Gpping point. Unlike other beacon players, they do not manufacture a physical beacon—they put it in your hands. iBeacon is already built into over 200 million iOS-‐based devices, including iPhones and iPads. These devices not only interact with beacons in the environment, they act as beacons themselves to interact with apps that use beacons and other iBeacon compaGble iOS and Android devices in range, making virtually every smartphone a beacon. As with the App Store, Apple places the iBeacon building blocks in the hands of third-‐party developers.

On the hardware front, there are currently at least sixteen companies vying for the market. Beacon maker Kontakt.io offers an open-‐API plajorm, ships devices with customized configuraGons, provides impressive baUery life, allows for cloud-‐based operaGon, monitoring and modificaGon, and even supports use in high-‐traffic, outdoor, and underwater environments.

EsGmote beacons, notable for their small size and beacon sGckers, are designed to sGck to objects “to create new, contextually rich experiences.” GeLo has targeted the museum market with plans to expand to trade shows, naGonal retail and transit with a subscripGon-‐based suite that provides mobile app and hardware support as well as a cloud plajorm to manage content.

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ENGAGEMENT VS. SPAM

HOW ARE CUSTOMERS RESPONDING? Early uses of beacons, such as sending unsolicited coupons to users, were perceived as spam by customers and did not enhance the guest’s experience. However, more recent examples that focus on entertaining your guests have proven effecGve. Global beacon leader Kontakt.io emphasizes the importance of creaGng a fun customer experience to encourage adopGon. “Using beacons for more than just coupons is key to standing out; whether it’s remembering your last order at a favorite restaurant or making it easy to have your waiter deliver your drink in a crowded venue, beacons make the restaurant experience more magical,” said Szymon Niemczura, CEO of Kontakt.io. “The best way to engage customers is to delight them with a memorable experience, and beacons allow you to do that automaGcally for every guest that walks in.”

101% Increase in engagement if music or entertainment

content

15% Have engaged with beacons

20% Increase in

purchase intent

313% Decrease in engagement

if 2+ same-‐store coupon alerts

20% Increase in

purchase intent

Data via inMarket study, 2015

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THE SECRET TO PERSONALIZATION THE BEACON GREETING When a beacon experience is fun and personal, customer engagement soars. A great example is the mobile greeGng. Restaurant music plajorm Rockbot recently deployed its beacon soluGon to brands such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Schlotzsky’s, Bagger Dave’s, and Arooga’s, as well as leading retail, fitness, and desGnaGon brands including Gap, AnyGme Fitness, and JetBlue. As described by TechCrunch, the beacons automaGcally welcome a customer and add one of their favorite songs to the restaurant’s background music. Results to date show a 101% increase in engagement via mobile. “PersonalizaGon, when done wrong, risks annoying customers,” says GarreU Dodge, CEO of Rockbot. “Brands that start with an experience that delights customers can then use that to build trust and interacGon.” Focusing on one impacjul use case, like a personalized greeGng, has proven to drive adopGon. 7

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FROM STORES TO STADIUMS

BEACONS BEYOND THE RESTAURANT In addiGon to restaurants, high-‐traffic areas such as stadiums, museums, and event fesGvals are using beacons to engage patrons. Popular music fesGvals like Bonnaroo have tapped beacon companies like Aloompa to create a real-‐Gme, hyper-‐local event guide for fesGval aUendees and “give event producers insight into audience behavior.” For organizers, it also provides data on where and when aUendees lingered. While businesses realize that many consumers aren’t familiar with beacons, they see firsthand each day how much their customers use mobile while on premise. To bridge the gap between mobile and beacon use, some businesses are seeking partners to help them engage their customer bases via the new medium. Beacon-‐centric markeGng firms such as Swirl, Beaconstac and Aislelabs have developed their own proximity markeGng plajorms to provide restaurants with the ability to create, manage and analyze proximity-‐based campaigns for their brands. 8

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YOUR BEACON PLAN TEST IN 2015, DEPLOY IN 2016 So, are the projecGons of industry analysts warranted? Will businesses uGlize beacon technology? Will beacon-‐influenced sales jump $40.3B in a single year? According to a press release from Hillshire Farms, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” A Hillshire Farms beacon campaign delivered a 20-‐fold increase in purchase intent by those exposed to messaging—a 500% increase over the average for mobile ad engagement. AddiGonally, the LocaGon Based MarkeGng AssociaGon (LBMA) reports that 45% of customers are more likely to purchase from businesses offering personalized recommendaGons. Whether it’s Major League Baseball using beacons to sell seat upgrades at stadiums, Starwood properGes enabling hotel guests to bypass check-‐in and enter their room via smartphones, or GE supplying Walmart with beacon-‐embedded light bulbs throughout their stores to noGfy shoppers of specials within their stores, beacon technology is coming soon to a restaurant, gym, store, and almost every other physical locaGon near you.

We’ve seen how exisGng companies and app developers are using intelligent, proximity-‐based content to truly personalize the customer experience—not just for coupons and offers, but also for greeGng your guests upon arrival, providing helpful informaGon, and engaging them via entertainment. In which ways will your brand uGlize beacons to delight your customers, invite interacGon, and personalize the guest experience? What type of implementaGon makes sense for your business?

37% Of Large Retailers to

Deploy Beacons in 2015 mCommerce Daily, April 2015

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QUESTIONNAIRE (MARK ALL THAT APPLY):

What is my primary objecGve in personalizing the on-‐premise experience?

Engaging guests

Customer service

Offering discounts

How will I make the beacon experience fun and personal to avoid being perceived as spam?

GreeGng Rewards Entertainment

Which of my on-‐premise technologies could I integrate with my beacon soluGon?

TV screens & digital signage

POS system

Loyalty program

How much value is there to my brand in knowing guests’ arrival Gme, length of stay & return rate?

High Moderate Low

Who inside (or outside) my organizaGon will monitor my beacon network and success?

IT/InnovaGon MarkeGng Partner

GOALS & STRATEGY

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EASY NEXT STEPS THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO CONVERT THESE INSIGHTS INTO ACTION

1.   Email your IT team & ask them where beacon implementaGon falls on their roadmap.

2.   Schedule a meeBng with your markeBng team to learn their goals for beacon usage and on-‐premise personalizaGon.

3.   Request consultaBons with 3 leading beacon providers and ask them to present 5 use cases for your business type.

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THANK YOU We hope the ideas presented in this report on beacon technology for restaurants sparked even beUer ideas of your own. If you haven’t seen how Rockbot is enhancing the guest experience at leading restaurant brands, we invite you to learn more today.

“Rapidly innovaLng outdated music in restaurants with an exciLng, social experience for customers.” – NaGonal Restaurant AssociaGon “Rockbot is the most innovaLve and relevant music soluLon for today’s mobile and social world.” – FastCasual.com

Learn more about why today’s leading brands are uBlizing Rockbot: rockbot.com/enterprise. If you are currently a Rockbot customer, contact your account manager to purchase Rockbot beacons for your locaGons.

Rockbot uGlizes beacon technology to automaGcally play your customers’ favorite songs when they walk into your restaurant and send them a personalized greeGng via mobile. Rockbot’s enterprise music plajorm includes custom background music, the #1 jukebox app for customers, interacGve digital signage, beacon technology, and a suite of markeGng services.

WHAT IS ROCKBOT?

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Beacon Technology for Restaurants - Personalizing the On-Premise Experience

Technology

beacon technology

onpremise technology

uglizing beacons

lowcost beacons

beacons broadcast

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successful restaurant