Your power usage, kitchen appliances, and even your car may be connected together through the IoT. Any electronic device can be connected to another through the internet of things. Security and tracking devices, pacemakers, heart and medical monitors, sporting devices and usage monitoring equipment can all be connected to the internet. In general terms, the Internet of Things involves every device that is connected to the internet. An internet connection is all that is needed for anyone to connect these devices all together. Once connected the network of information that results can be shared and used by product manufacturers, distributors, retail outlets and customers. The benefits to everyone represented by sharing information that is free to access and to use, instantly available for sharing and perfect to reproduce as far as quality and reliability are concerned. The IoT can be a source of significant and reliable consumer insights, feedback and data points which when extracted and analysed using machine learning can help understand consumer behaviour and define business strategy in new and innovative ways.
IoT-enabled strategies will help retailers transform the physical reality of traditional instore shopping into a customer-focused digital experience. The primary outcome and benefit for each of the relevant users:
IoT transforms retail by offering customers a seamless experience:
Online retail is driven by immediate product availability, ease of payment and seamless delivery. In-store shopping needs to be transformed to deliver the same online user experience by equipping sales personnel and fitting rooms to become consumer service touchpoints – enabled with wirelessly connected mobile devices and capable of offering the users new and exciting interactions and functionality. Some examples of this are as follows:
Equipping customer fitting rooms:
Equipping sales personnel:
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