Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iBeacons continue their slow but steady advance with their pilot introduced to 10 Duane Reade pharmacies in New York City today, according to reports. Since Duane Reade is a fancy brand name from Walgreens, the rollout at these important locations might herald similar additions at other stores later in the year, assuming the company is satisfied with the initial results.
In some venues, the uses of the iBeacon are more obvious than others. Apple’s iBeacon patent (granted yesterday along with 63 other patents) showed, for example, that iBeacons could be used to help worried parents find their wandering kids inside huge shopping malls, assuming that both parent and offspring were carrying mobile devices. Sports arenas are using the iBeacon to sell last minute ticket upgrades and provide useful directions to visiting fans.
Uses of the Bluetooth beacon system in a pharmacy are more subtle, but may prove to be effective as well. At a minimum, they will probably increase traffic temporarily as iPhone owners go to Duane Reade just to see how the beacons work – a type of “gimmick advertising.” Many of the uses these devices are put to at the pharmacies are similar to those at grocery stores and shopping malls, such as offering coupons, advertising specials, and providing shopping list reminders when the individual approaches an item on their electronic shopping list.
However, there are several other functionalities that the Duane Reade iBeacons will offer, too. One of these is a signal sent to the telephone when the individual is still outside the store but getting close to it. At first glance, this appears to be superfluous, but it is actually a clever adaptation of the technology to the environment it is operating within. New York is a crowded place with surging masses of foot and vehicle traffic. A timely iBeacon signal could mean the difference between finding the pharmacy entrance on the first try and frustratingly missing and needing to go back and look again.
Although visiting the pharmacy is not generally an activity people use for entertainment, the Apple (AAPL) iBeacons at Duane Reade might also be part of New York City’s planned May 20th “Beacon Crawl,” an event involving moving from beacon to beacon to get bargains and, of course, plenty of liquor as well. If the “Crawl” includes shopping opportunities as well as beer and brandy, then these pharmacies will doubtless offer some kind of special price to lure people in.
