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Mobile Solutions and More: The Beacon Industry 2018 Study

What’s happening in 2018 and beyond in the beacon industry? We wrote the white paper. Here’s some of our findings.
Check out the full Bluetooth Beacon Industry 2018 white paper
We talked to experts about the ups and downs of 2017, what’s going to be trending in 2018, and what kind of changes we can expect in the beacon market. Now, we’re putting our heads together and talking to insiders and customers to find out what we can expect from the Bluetooth beacon market in 2018 and beyond.
Some of the most surprising insights we found didn’t necessarily concern deployments that are happening right this second but rather changes we can expect to continue in the long term. Perhaps the most pressing of all: mobile.

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Mobile Solutions

Businesses recognized long ago that customers were going mobile. Smart phones and devices became crucial to any and all customer-facing efforts. This is where the beacon first came in. It was also obvious that simply sending messages to customers via mobile wasn’t enough. You had to send the right messages.
Proximity information gave marketers and managers the ability to send more appropriate messages. This made customers more likely to click. However, customers and visitors in public venues aren’t the only ones moving to mobile. Hospital patients, administrators, warehouse employees, and everyone in between is on mobile.

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As providers and businesses continue to see value in expediting processes, we’ll see an increase in mobile solutions in new industries. From check-in to navigation and delivering post-visit information, several steps can be either automated or at least supported through mobile. This is a need currently defining many industries, and beacons will play an important role in making the shift to mobile fully possible.
In numbers

  • “Warehouse professionals expect a significant shift away from pen and paper-based processes (71% decrease) to handheld mobile computers and tablets (100% increase) for cycle counting and inventory validation by 2018.” Motorola Solutions

What about passive technologies or the supposed competition with active RFID? What else is moving the beacon industry? Check out our complete breakdown on the beacon industry in 2018 including:

  • Passive and active Bluetooth
  • Virtual beacons
  • Healthcare, supply chain management, and public venues
  • Competing technologies
  • Technology hurdles
  • Innovation and business focuses