The Cloud and IoT’s Impact on Retail

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a buzzword you’ve probably heard quite a bit over the past few  years. You might think of it as Siri or Alexa, but it’s so much more than a voice activation. IoT involves a network of connected objects with sensors that communicate, analyze, and share data. And when it comes to the IoT’s impact on retail, it can involve cellular and Wi-Fi tracking, digital signage, and customers’ mobile devices, to name a few. Here’s an overview of the cloud and the IoT’s impact on retail.

Predictive Equipment Maintenance

Today’s manufacturing equipment is increasingly fitted with sensors that can predict equipment failure and detect a variety of other anomalies. One example is food manufacturing and refrigeration: those units can predict power consumption to help drive savings—or monitor fluctuations in temperature that could affect food safety. By adding an IoT sensor to a refrigerated unit, a company can be alerted when temperatures reach levels that could lead to food or drink contamination. This can help reduce a retailer’s expenses over time.

Supply Chain and Transportation

IoT sensors are also used throughout the supply chain and transportation to track temperature, along with other valuable data like location, shock, tilt, and humidity.

Tracking software helps retailers learn whether goods are being transported safely and in ideal conditions—as well as arriving on time. These factors help retailers streamline logistics to reduce product damage and loss.

The IoT’s impact on retail is also felt in the warehouse, and is used for inventory management and improving supply and demand planning accuracy. Once goods are stocked onto smart shelves, weight sensors can tell a retailer when products are running low. This helps with inventory management, and when paired with analytics can inform the retailer when products need to be ordered to meet demand. It’s known as a demand-aware warehouse, where automation and robotics are driven by online and in-store demand.

Shopping Experience

Recently, the IoT’s impact on retail is increasingly felt by the consumer. Through the use of sensors and beacons placed in a brick-and-mortar store, retailers learn customers’ typical shopping paths. Armed with this information, they can optimize how and where items are placed in the store.

Beacons can deliver messaging (like a coupon) to a customer’s mobile device when they approach certain areas of the store, which can help to drive revenue. And when it comes to checkout, some stores are starting to experiment with options without needing a cashier—adding to convenience for the customer and reducing labor costs for the retailer.

Conclusion

Since more shoppers are buying online, retailers are becoming interested in ways they can bring the simplicity of online shopping into the store; improving shopper experience. Armed with rich IoT data and analytics, retailers can sense, understand, and act on a variety of touchpoints that improve the customer experience while reducing costs and increasing revenue. These insights also help retailers craft customer experience while collecting the data that will help them predict how their customers shop.