Beacons — those little ad-beaming mechanisms littering storefronts today — have been heralded as the ultimate mobile app partner for retailers. But as they exist today, they do little more than make Madison Avenue come-ons, teasing shoppers with discounts and offers that the beacons (and even the beacons in conjunction with mobile apps) can’t deliver. How can this loop be closed? Can beacons directly process payments? Unlikely, but indirect payments are all but a certainty, although that’s at least a couple of years away.

Read more, via Computerworld