Swirl, the Boston-based in-store beacon marketing platform, is expanding. HBC Department Group, which owns Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay, announced Monday it will be rolling out the app’s iBeacon technology in its department stores across the U.S. and in Canada.
The partnership will deliver personalized deals, discounts and messages straight to your smartphone while you’re shopping in Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay stores through an array of third-party apps using Swirl’s technology, which comprises retail’s first end-to-end beacon marketing platform. The technology will roll out in stores starting Monday, and will eventually be available in all 130 Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay locations owned by HBC Department Group.
The Swirl platform creates an engaging experience for shoppers that retailers can tweak according to where shoppers are in the store. Beacons set up in different departments will target those shopping in the area by delivering specific and relevant content, including promotions and discounts, to their phones (if they’ve opted into the service).
Of the partnership, Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Crotty said the company is looking to tap into the constant appetite for a mobile experience. Noted Crotty in a release: “Beacon technology is the future of retail marketing and Swirl’s platform will assist us to make every visit to Hudson’s Bay or Lord & Taylor even more rewarding for our customers.”
For Swirl, this collaboration is exactly what the company had in mind since raising $8 million in Series A funding last fall. At the time, Swirl reported they planned to use the funding to expand the mobile marketing platform beyond specialty retailers into big-box and department stores to drive sales and engagement. Swirl Founder and CEO Hilmi Ozguc spoke to the landmark expansion in a statement, saying:
With this new capability, Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor are taking their reputation for quality and customer service to the next level. We are proud to be working with one of North America’s premier retailers to reinvent the in-store shopping experience with the latest mobile marketing technology. This multi-category, multi-floor beacon deployment represents the most ambitious application of beacon marketing in the retail industry to date.
Swirl’s technology is currently available in stores like Alex and Ani, Timberland and Kenneth Cole. To learn more about the marketing platform, click here.
Image via Swirl
