Internet of Things (IoT) in the retail industry has proven to be the breaker of opaque walls and bringer of transparent channels. You don’t have to get confused. We are of course not talking about any movie character in some web series such as Game of Thrones, known widely as GoT. It’s IoT that we are going to discuss, a technology that has indeed played a hero for retail businesses all over the world.
According to a recent report Gartner says, “IoT market growth shows no sign of slowing.” The report also informs that the IoT endpoints in retail and wholesale trade are expected to reach approximately half a billion by 2020. In the age of mobiles and smart devices, IoT offers true mobility in retail, which in collaboration with technologies such as the cloud, is enabling retailers to offer the best of experiences to customers.
Retailers’ infatuation with IoT is quite obvious. Thanks to IoT that they are able to anticipate customers’ demand, or said more appropriately, they are able to make decisions based on insights drawn from enterprise-wide data. When it comes to the benefits of IoT in retail, there are many worth considering. Let’s discuss some of the most important ones.
Benefits of IoT in Retail
IoT adds real-time capabilities to retail organizations and at its best, it supports seamless integration with evolving technologies such as big data, analytics, AI (Artificial Intelligence), and more. Leading global retailers are leveraging the technology to leapfrog into the post-digital world, where only customer-centric organizations will secure a constant growth.
Retailers have expectations from IoT and perhaps that is why it is being projected that the market for IoT in retail is expected to be worth $30 billion by 2024. The following are some of the benefits of incorporating IoT in your retail business.
#1 Supply Chain Efficiency
IoT in retail is the reason that the supply chain processes are out of the mess. The technology makes effective use of actuators and sensors, which helps retailers remotely track products and assets in real-time. Thus, it not only supports robust inventory management but also helps in achieving operational excellence. IoT in retail helps retailers collect real-time data and therefore, scrutinize processes, tasks, and functions efficiently. IoT is ultimately enabling retailers to accelerate time-to-market, ensuring products and services are delivered to customers right in time.
#2 Personalized Experiences
At a time, when customers are becoming tech-savvy and markets mobile-heavy, retailers are busy finding ways to deliver superior experiences to customers. And the Internet of Things (IoT) in the retail industry has largely helped achieve such goals. As per an article by Forbes, 79% of the retailers will use IoT, by 2021, to personalize in-store experiences. IoT helps retailers collect and consolidate customers’ data. Therefore, it becomes easy for retailers to read and analyze customers’ buying behavior and the continuously changing trends in their demands. As a result, they are able to better anticipate what customers want and reap the benefits underlying.
#3 Omnichannel Experiences
IoT is known as the technology which helps retailers create a connected ecosystem. With the fact that customers in the digital age are enquiring, buying, and seeking support anywhere, any time and through multiple channels and devices, delivering omnichannel experiences to customers is paramount for retailers. An IoT-enabled ecosystem offers customers instant access to retailers’ products, support, and services 24*7 and that too across devices.
#4 Real-Time Visibility Through Processes
Flawless communication is critical for performing different business functions seamlessly. IoT in retail creates a connected platform that facilitates smooth and real-time communication between stakeholders across endpoints. This eliminates communication bottlenecks and enables retailers to see through processes and thus, take effective decisions in real-time.
#5 Valuable Business Insights
Be it anticipating customer preferences or be it delivering high-quality products and services to them, IoT is a true facilitator. IoT in retail is being essentially used to maneuver data to generate valuable business insights. The technology helps retailers convert a deluge of data into valuable assets, which can underpin constant success and growth.
Early Adopters of IoT in Retail Are Reaping Benefits
IoT in retail is helping businesses step out of their silos and retailers, who are early adopters of IoT, are reaping the benefits of the technology. Reports suggest that 77% of them believe IoT is helping them deliver superior customer experiences, whereas 89% of them believe early adoption of the IoT technology has helped them get better insights with respect to customer preferences.
IoT adoption is leading the retail industry to complete transformation. It is being used to create smart shelves, predict shelf-life of products, identify the shortage and surplus of stock, monitor the temperature and perform many such tasks that lead to cost-saving and achieving the overall business excellence.
Despite this, it is also important to understand that not all IoT pilot projects prove to be successful for retailers. You might be surprised to know but in 90% cases, the IoT projects fail. Therefore, it is recommended to consult an IoT solution provider to ensure your IoT pilot projects are aligned with your IT infrastructure and you are able to gain valuable business outcomes from the project.
