After Retail Stumble, Beacons Shine From Banks to Sports Arenas
- In a show of confidence, Mobile Majority buying Gimbal
- Shipments of the devices expected to grow to 500 million
Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Photographer: Jason Miller/Getty ImagesBeacon technology, which was practically left for dead after failing to deliver on its promise to revolutionize the retail industry, is making a comeback.
Beacons are puck-size gadgets that can send helpful tips, coupons and other information to people’s smartphones through Bluetooth. They’re now being used in everything from bank branches and sports arenas to resorts, airports and fast-food restaurants. In the latest sign of the resurgence, Mobile Majority, an advertising startup, said on Monday that it was buying Gimbal Inc., a beacon maker it bills as the largest independent source of location data other than Google and Apple Inc.
“Retail has gotten a lot of attention, but we actually see a huge pickup in other industries as well,” said Thomas Walle, chief executive officer of Unacast, which aggregates data collected from beacons for advertisers. “Now airports and transportation is probably the largest. Sports stadiums is huge -- more than 60 percent of all large sports stadiums in the U.S. are beacons-enabled.”