Tesco is trialling Apple’s iBeacon technology but is reluctant to use it for marketing notifications to shoppers because the leading UK supermarket is nervous of scaring its users, according to Marketing.

Mark Cody (pictured), Tesco’s senior group marketing manager for mobile, said the idea of a customer walking past a display of baked beans and getting a message on their smartphones about a deal on the product could unsettle certain users.

Instead iBeacons are being used to send messages to shoppers about picking up pre-ordered goods when they arrive in store.

The technology is part of a wider trial of Tesco’s MyStore app.

Asked about other initiatives, Cody said NFC is some way from being successfully implemented.

“The opportunity for payments and travel is there [with NFC], but in the UK we are probably a couple of years away from it really taking off”, he said.