Report: Walgreens piloting iBeacon across several Duane Reade stores

NEW YORK — Walgreens is piloting an iBeacon program across several Duane Reade stores, the Mobile Commerce Daily reported Friday. 

iBeacon is a technology that extends Location Services in iOS. An iOS device can alert apps when a user approaches or leaves a location with an iBeacon. In addition to monitoring location, an app can estimate the proximity to an iBeacon — for example, a display or checkout counter in a retail store. Instead of using latitude and longitude to define the location, iBeacon uses a Bluetooth low energy signal, which iOS devices detect, according to an Apple support page. 

Walgreens decided to test iBeacon based on findings that the average omnichannel shopper spends six times more than the average shopper who only shops in-store. 

According to the report, "the iBeacon technology is being used as part of a bigger in-store mobile coupon initiative that lets consumers digitally clip coupons and redeem them via a bar code on a smartphone."