Hong Kong’s SmarTone has launched a marketing service that uses proximity triggering to notify customers of a retailer’s presence via a pre-installed app on users’ smartphones.

SmarTone CEO Douglas Li said the aim of the service, called ST Beacon, is to enable retailers to better engage customers and increase sales. “It allows tailored messages to be delivered at a retailer’s store – from welcome messages and prompts for new arrivals to small-area promotional messaging and even product information in close proximity to a product on display,” he said.

A retailer’s app can be downloaded from App Store or Google Play. The ST Beacon and all apps supporting it are open to users of all cellular networks in Hong Kong, and not limited to SmarTone customers.

A customer visiting a ST Beacon participating store can receive up-to-date information even when the app is in the background or closed, as long as the Bluetooth function is switched on.

The operator said multiple ST Beacons can be deployed in one retail location.

A beta application of ST Beacon is now offered to SmarTone’s Red Pass holders (premium customers) at a handful of retailers, including the Cova and Espressamente Illy coffee shops in Hong Kong.