Target starts piloting beacon-powered recommendation program in select stores

Target is rolling out a new in-store program that utilizes Bluetooth beacons in order to offer deals and recommendations based on your location in a store. Initially, the program will be trialed in a group of 50 stores in Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, New York City, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle. The trial will also require the use of the latest version of the Target app for iPhone.

From Techcrunch:

In Target's case, the company says that the technology will be used not only to trigger deal alerts like new offers from Cartwheel (its mobile couponing service), but also provide information and recommendations to shoppers, like an alert about what nearby apparel items are trending on Pinterest, for instance.

Target plans to introduce more beacon-enabled features to its app in the future. For instance, a future app release will re-order your shopping list depending on your location in the store and request help from store staff from your phone.

The program is expected to rollout to more stores later this year.