It's been a slow but steady burn. As the import of iBeacon has slowly taken hold, we've seen article after article present a "wait now, has Apple done something really big?". Here's another good one from Bloomberg. As the author, Bill Carmody of Trepoint says:

It’s as if you just added Google (GOOG) Analytics to your physical store—the real-life equivalent of being able to analyze page views and click throughs. Except that you’re analyzing retail traffic patterns, hover zones, and purchase patterns mapped against information and offers provided throughout the shopper’s in-store journey.