Dive Brief:

• Some 200 Safeway and Giant Eagle stores are being outfitted with Apple iBeacon technology. The system acts as both a guide and a reminder for in-store shoppers.
• iBeacon is the technology used at Apple stores and at Major League Baseball stadiums. By downloading an app and enabling "push" notifications, grocery shoppers can received discount coupons and be guided through stores to find items on their shopping lists.
• The short-range, low-energy Bluetooth technology used in iBeacon offers far more precise location-based targeting than is possible with GPS.

Dive Insight:

So look, we own an iPhone. And an iPad. And a Mac. We're geeky fan boys. But there is one area of Apple infatuation that we don't share: iBeacon. We have never gotten used to the idea of our phone beaming constant information about our location to some giant algorithm in the sky -- "I'm here! Now I've taken another step and I'm here!" So we don't use any location-based services. We just don't like the idea of anyone knowing where we are and what we're doing. We don't even tell our spouses where we're going half the time. And, as we've said before, we really don't like walking into a store and telling the store "I'm here! Market something to me!"