The Bluetooth shopping centre

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The Bluetooth shopping centre

axxxr

Joined: Mar 21, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Londinium
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Posted: 2004-10-20 19:50

A new location-based Bluetooth customer service system will begin operation later this week in Sydney. The bluepulse system enables people within the shopping centre to use their mobile phones to get useful information they want about their surroundings.

Broadway Shopping Centre in central Sydney will become the first Bluetooth-enabled shopping centre on Friday, October 22, allowing retail outlets in the Broadway Centre to communicate with 'bluepulse' subscribers as they walk through the centre by giving consumers access to relevant and valuable information and offers through their mobile phone.

Compatible 'Bluetooth' enabled mobile phones, can access specific mobile content as soon as the owner enters the Broadway Centre.

The simple Bluepulse demo is a knockout (30 seconds and you'll "get it") and is sure to ignite a lot of interest in the way we use new technologies such as BlueTooth and WiFi in public information networks.

Bluepulse MD Ben Keighran believes, "that in the not-too-distant future, people will expect to receive information relevant to their surroundings on the screens of their mobile phones". This will be regardless of the communication network they are connected to and the type of device they have.

"It need not be a shopping centre. You can do this at a football stadium, or any place where a lot of people need information so they can make the best use of their surroundings.

"To the consumer it's about the usefulness of the content and with geographic relevance comes a new level of compelling and useful even critical content. At the sports stadium it might be an action replay, or at a festival or concert it might be the schedule, finding friends in the crowd.

"Because we have greater bandwidth than 3G, we can wirelessly deliver file sizes a lot larger than you can deliver by MMS - ringtones and logos will be part of the offering as we go forward.

Hoyts will be providing streaming video previews of movies being shown in the centre's cinema and there's plenty of opportunity for movie theatres to use this type of technology to sell vacant seats too.

Customer/Shopper benefits

Based on a shopper's "profile" which is developed over time, the system is always looking for things of relevance and a number of other services are expected to develop over time.

Bluepulse in its launch version is already compelling, offering many benefits to shoppers such as:
* an ingenious service for giving real world directions. As the service knows your geographic location, it can give directions to locate, for example, a particular shop, an ATM or toilet with step-by-step directions using real world landmarks down to the nearest metre - "proceed towards the fountain until you reach the tobacconist on the right hand side"
* free SMS and MMS to other members within the shopping centre - as the local BlueTooth network carries the messages, traffic can be provided free
* an events calendar including movie times, movie or show synopses and watch video movie trailers and buy movie tickets with the cellphone
* a buddy system similar to instant messenger and the ability to geographically locate other members who are friends, within the shopping centre (Michael is standing outside McDonalds)
* a constantly updated list of special offers available within the shopping centre (free muffin with a coffee this hour, two for one meals, shoes on special etc)
* download offer coupons to redeem special discounts by simply presenting their phone at the participating retail outlet.
* have your shopping list appear from your home computer. Just enter your shopping list into your online bluepulse account and view it every time you go shopping.

You can also use bluepulse through normal carrier networks when outside the shopping centre's Bluetooth network.

Keighran describes bluepulse as "like having the world's biggest search engine in your pocket, constantly searching for information, then presenting the results on the screen of your mobile".

How it works?
bluepulse is a simple application for mobile phones, which allow a person to receive information, based on their surroundings - "location based information".

If you have a reasonably recent mobile phone with Bluetooth technology (most mobile phones purchased in the last two years have it), you can activate bluepulse.

bluepulse can be accessed via a local Bluetooth network or a carrier network (e.g. Telstra, Vodafone, Optus, 3). When you open bluepulse on your phone, it automatically searches for an available network and then connects to it and retrieves any information that is relevant to you, presenting the results on the screen of your mobile phone.

bluepulse provides new and exciting experiences for mobile phone users as well as new revenue streams and marketing opportunities for carriers, content providers and public place operators such as shopping centres, airports and stadiums.

Keighran says, "bluepulse is creating a world where finding information that is relevant to peoples' surroundings will be as easy as glancing at their mobile phone".

International rollout for 2006

"Australia will be the testbed for bluepulse," according to Keighran. We expect to have 20 shopping centres operating before the end of 2005 within Australia.

"In the future, Keighran believes all shopping centres and public places will have their own wireless network, and we'd like to think our network can run over the top regardless of what they're running.

Customer/Shopper benefits

The bluepulse service offers a variety of benefits for shops and shopping centre management, according to Keighran.

"Most importantly, it enables the shopping centre to enhance the customer experience, but there are many other aspects which offer savings and efficiency.

"For example, centre staff wear a Bluetooth badge which enables management to monitor staff geographically and deploy people quickly who are near to, for example, a milkshake spill in a busy thoroughfare. There's also has an emergency button so management is instantly aware of all situations.

"There are some strict regulations about the obligations of a shopping centre to keep a safe, clean environment and our system offers a great staff management solution to provide a cleaner and safer shopping environment.

"It's also possible to understand customer traffic patterns on a new level. How many and how customers move through a shopping centre can now be accurately monitored.

Bluepulse technology will allow retail outlets in the Broadway Centre to communicate with 'bluepulse' subscribers as they walk through the centre by giving consumers access to relevant and valuable information and offers through their mobile phone.

"We believe that Bluepulse technology will, before long, become an integral part of every shopping centre because by providing consumers with access to valuable information and offers, retailers can increase the footfall and sales through their store.

"If the consumer's permission is granted then relevant and targeted information may even be delivered to the consumers as they pass by the shop front."

www.bluepulse.com.au [addsig]

buckle247

Joined: Jan 02, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: UK: OXON
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Posted: 2004-10-20 19:54

i heard about hmv looking at bluetooth technology a couple of years ago, so you could check to see if products are out of stock while in the store. Good to see that finally the technology has been put to use.

Residentevil