GoMetro Launches BLE Stickers for Parcel and Asset Tracking

In Short

GoMetro has launched disposable Bluetooth Low Energy stickers to help track goods in transit. The stickers do not need a SIM card or GPS.

What Happened

South African mobility and fleet management company GoMetro has launched disposable Bluetooth Low Energy stickers for tracking parcels, pallets, shipments, and reusable assets.

Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, is a short-range wireless signal that uses very little power. Think of it like a quiet beacon that nearby devices can “hear” without draining the battery.

The stickers are designed to work without a SIM card and without GPS. Instead, they rely on nearby smartphones to detect the sticker and report its location. This approach is similar to “crowd-based” location finding, where many phones act like roaming scanners.

GoMetro says the stickers weigh less than 4 g and include a small battery. They are aimed at commercial users, especially logistics operators that want to reduce losses, improve shipment visibility, and track returnable packaging.

The stickers integrate with GoMetro Bridge, the company’s software layer for connecting devices and data into its tracking and operations tools. This lets operators see location updates in one place and connect them to workflows like delivery status, exceptions, and asset recovery.

Why It Matters

Asset tracking in African logistics is often limited by hardware cost and connectivity constraints. SIM-based trackers can be expensive at scale and can add recurring data costs. GPS trackers also consume more power and can be unreliable indoors or in dense areas.

A no-SIM BLE sticker can lower the cost of tracking high volumes of items, especially low value parcels or short-lived shipments. For fleet and warehouse teams, it could also make it easier to monitor reusable assets like crates and pallets, which are often hard to account for.

The trade-off is coverage. Because the stickers depend on nearby smartphones, location updates can be less frequent in low traffic areas. Commercial operators will watch closely to see how well this model performs across long routes and cross-border supply chains.