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Marsh Supermarkets and inMarket Launching First iBeacon Platform for Apple's Upcoming Watch
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We shall see.
I could see us entering our shopping list into the app, then getting a notification as I walk down an aisle that has the thing that I want. The store gets advance notice (as I add stuff to my list over the course of the week) about what their demand is going to be. Also I could put a list of stuff that I generally like and get a notification as I walk into store if any of my favorites are on sale.
All this seems possible. But it really seems like this would be years away. A supermarket would need lots of folks with an Apple Watch. Except for a Trader Joes in NYC, I don't think there will be enough customers with the technology in 2015 to make this worth anyone's time.
There's only a few in southwestern Ohio - the chain is based out of Indianapolis (founded in Muncie), so the majority of stores are in central Indiana. They also used to own the Village Pantry convenience stores, but that was spun off a few years ago.
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Nope. And their Fresh Idea loyalty card is available in an app, but not Passbook. It sounds like they're trying to look high-tech and innovative, but only with things that help their bottom line (targeted ads).
Pssh. The default is opted-in. Apple is really pushing the limits with this kind of crap. You have to opt-out of stuff usually.
Geofencing (Settings->Privacy->Location Services->System Services->Frequent Locations ... prepare to have your mind blown) is a great example. I know I didn't 'opt-in' for my phone to remember every place that I visit and keep a nice tidy database full of that info locally just in the off chance that the info will be useful if I turn up dead or something and they have my phone but can't find my body.
/rant
I wish these kind of features were truly 'opt-in' but in practice you have to stay educated and know how to opt-out.
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Stories like this continue to dampen my enthusiasm for the Apple Watch. I wonder how early on they transitioned from thinking about it as cool tech that'll enhance people's lives to cool tech that'll serve as an ideal platform for directly marketing crap to people. Maybe I'm just naive and its been that way all along.
This is going to do wonders for peoples memories. By 2025 we'll all be Alzheimer zombies.
Ads on an apple watch, for me a reason not to buy one.
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I think frequent places is a cool feature that shows you what the phone companies have been able to see for a long time.
Ads on an apple watch, for me a reason not to buy one.
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I think frequent places is a cool feature that shows you what the phone companies have been able to see for a long time.
Convenience.
I'm not seeing the convenience of having my phone and watch marketing to me while I shop, but I can sure see the potential for annoyance.
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Not to me, sorry. The grocery stores (and others) are already merchandising with their loyalty programs that we are more or less forced to use, or pay more for virtually everything. If this becomes just another avenue for this kind of consumer abuse then I am not for it.
I'm going to venture a guess here that the same device beaming info to the watch can and will beam it to a phone (especially as Apple watch is connected to one's phone). The app for this shopping list will be on the phone as much as on the watch. If so, then this is not years away at all.
The use of the watch in the commercial is, I suspect, their way of indicating that they're ahead of the curve. Not just ready to beam such to your phone, but to watches when they become popular.
Maybe, but if this works at all, it's going to be wrapped up in those annoying loyalty programs, so it will work better for the merchandisers than consumers.
How early? From the minute the internet became a way to market crap to people. Anything that can and does use wi-fi/internet can do that whether the maker of such is thinking of it that way or not.
But then it's not like this is anything new. Walls on buildings were used to market crap from ancient times. Windows in churches have long marketed the religion. Also, this isn't tech to help a paraplegic walk, but phones and tablets and watches. Like radio and television, their enhancement of our lives is as much entertainment than anything else and that's always come with advertisements.
i wouldn't hold my breath for this thing to work.Shouldn't we wait and see that a smart-watch even exists in the Apple Retail Stores yet ? I can see people getting this done, but why must we all jump on this knowing that its gonna just work out ok ?
That's like diving in the deep end and not knowing how to swim....
Depends on how you shop. For some people it could be useful. For me not so much. I'm a walk in the door, get the things on my list and nothing else, and walk out kind of guy. I don't like pushy displays that block the aisle. I don't scan my card on the way in to see what my customized coupons are. I just want to go in, get what I need, and get out. For me this would just be an annoyance.
What don't people understand about opt-in? Don't want ads, then don't download apps that push them to you. How hard is that?
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I'm not talking about this specifically, but Watch in general. And if you don't want to be marketed at while you shop don't download any apps that do it. It's not like Watch is going to randomly start spamming people the minute they walk in a store. The customer has complete control over what 3rd party apps/notifications end up on their watch.
Ahh. Good point.
So what are these places waiting for? They should get going on this idea now.
I hope my shopping trolley does not accidentally RAM one of these people whilst I'm busy shopping and they are standing there playing with their watch in the food isle oblivious to everyone else around them.
That would be such a shame
This is a George Jetson moment.
http://orchardtech.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/jetsonwatch.jpg
Are we trying to convince ourselves that we really have control over of whether we opt into loyalty programs? Those who do have to pay more for nearly everything in the store, often a lot more. If retailers tie iBeacon into their loyalty programs, and we know they will, then count on random spamming whenever you are in those stores. At that point, not opting in is just a theory.
Um...
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We don't know what Apple will/won't allow. But I think we can safely say their number one goal will be user experience not catering to advertisers and retailers. I'm highly skeptical that Apple will allow developers to spam the watch without you opting-in first. Do you have any examples of this currently happening on iPhones?
Again, as I've said, opting in or out is not an actual choice in this case. I think we can safely say that Apple will not prohibit retailers integrating iBeacon with their loyalty programs, since this would be essentially the only point of the retailers implementing it, from their point of view.
Did you watch the video? it wasn't about marketing, it was about personal lists and alerting you only for stuff YOU OPTED IN TO BE ALERTED TO., so if you opt in for ads it's your own damn fault. and how are you "more or less forced" to use any loyalty program? Just pay cash and don't give them your phone number, works everywhere but membership places like Costco.