IoT adoption by retailers has been growing rapidly and is being used to improve customer experience, track in-store assets, reduce theft, improve inventory management and deliver personalized promotions.
Also, due to the penetration and increasing usage of smartphones experiences enabled by IoT in retail are finding more adopters.
IoT and mobile devices are being used in tandem by retailers for location based services (Geofencing) and to provide in-store personalized offers to customers.
A new report from Aruba Networks has found that 50% of the retailers worldwide are using Internet of Things (IoT) in their stores to some extent. It also predicts that by 2019, 79% of the retailers will use the IoT technology to transform their business.
Most of the retailers are using IoT technology to let customers access their IoT network to engage and create a good customer experience.
How retailers are deploying IoT enabled technologies?
Currently retailers are leveraging IoT solutions for:
- Monitoring and maintenance
- Location-based services
- Making IoT devices communicate with each other and customer devices using Wi-Fi
What are the popular connected devices in retail?
Aruba states that the most common and widely connected devices in retail are:
- Barcode readers
- Personal mobile devices
- Building systems e.g. refrigeration and security
What are the benefits are realized by retailers after using IoT?
Retailers are happy with their IoT technology performance and the following are the benefits experienced by retailers:
- 81% of retailers said IoT has improved customer experience
- 78% of the retailers mentioned that IoT has improved visibility across organizations
- A good number of retailers, nearly 74% of retailers said that implementing IoT has increased profitability
Summary
The interest for IoT is high in the minds of all executives across the world. IoT has made huge stride across all industries and especially in Retail industry as the need for providing a good customer experience is critical to the success of a retail business. Based on a report from “The Internet Of Things Business Index 2017 by The Economist”, 55% of companies expect IoT technologies to help them make internal cost savings and/or generate external revenue in the next three years. Meanwhile, 47% agree that the IoT will be one of the most important parts of their organisation’s digital transformation strategy.
Aruba has found, based on the survey across 20 countries that the need for IoT is growing and in 2019 the story will go from good to great. A good number of 88% of respondents has mentioned that they got the ROI on the investment they made in IoT. Thus, confirming that IoT improves business efficiency and improves profitability.
In Retail, merchants use IoT for product tracking, supply chain management, store system management, temperature control (heating, lighting), and personalized promotions.
As per the analyst reports, IoT in retail will hit USD 30 billion by 2024. Also, the increasing usage of smartphones has stimulated the growth for IoT in retail industry.
49% of the global retailers have deployed IoT technology and the trend continues to grow as retailers realize the importance of customer experience.
8 out of 10 retailers have mentioned that IoT has improved their customer experience and improved their business efficiency.
In the past, IoT used to be a fancy term but not anymore, as IoT is ready for the limelight and will be a key differentiator for retail businesses in the days to come.
Is your retail store ready for the change? Are you left behind? Know more about our IoT Services and contact our IoT Consultants to book a free session to discuss how IoT solution can improve your retail store. Also, checkout our IoT retail use cases blog.
