Mobeam, a provider of light-based mobile commerce technology, and its Beep’nGo solution, claim to have powered more than 10 million barcode transactions in the past eight months in more than 200 countries and territories, shining light to how prominent these solutions are anticipated to be in 2015.

Numerous brands and retailers, including WebMD and Dr. Oz, who used it to power an in-store solution to educate shoppers about health tips, have used Beep’nGo. By combining the influence of mobile and in-store activations, these companies are seeing further reach and are appealing to larger audiences.

“Processing 10 million transactions in such a short time signifies that our technology has surpassed a critical adoption threshold and is now being embraced as part of consumers’ normal, in-store mobile shopping behavior,” said Kang Lee, president and CEO of Mobeam. “We’re seeing high volumes of digital coupons, loyalty  and rewards cards, and gift cards being used at stores, as we work with the leading retailers, brands, and CPG companies to target consumers and drive in-store sales for them.”

Now implementing
Mobeam’s patented technology aims to allow consumers with devices that are enabled with its technology to instantly transmit loyalty cards, coupons, gift cards, tickets and vouchers from their smartphones to all POS scanners at retail stores without any hardware or software upgrades.

Mobeam believes that without its technology, laser scanners, which make up the vast majority of scanners in the market today, cannot scan barcodes from mobile devices because of the reflective screen and the powerful backlit display. Its patented technology claims to provide the first solution for this device-to-scanner communication barrier by converting barcoded information into beams of light that can be read by any scanner.

Now, with more than 140 million smartphones enabled with its technology, consumers, manufacturers, CPG companies and retailers can benefit from a seamless mobile shopping experience that works at every location, according to Mobeam executives.

Nonetheless, mobile-enabled transactions will be become unavoidable within the next year, and consumers will grow to expect these capabilities.

Uses of the technology
Television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz teamed with Jeff Arnold, creator of WebMD, and Mobeam’s Beep’nGo Android application to bring health information via mobile to in-store shoppers.

By providing helpful health videos and tips while shoppers make their way through store aisles, the partnership builds brand awareness for all parties involved. Through the mobile channel that Beep’nGo provides, Dr. Oz and Mr. Arnold can promote their tips and products at the most appropriate time, which is during customers’ shopping experience (see story).

Beep’nGo is a shopping app on the Google Play Store that launched in April. It has garnered seven million downloads.

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York