The future of all retail is a much talked about concept. Brick and mortar stores, apparel shops, consumer goods, and grocery stores have all experienced relative growth using web technologies since the beginning of the internet. Lately, its potential has gained more momentum thanks to the increased adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT has enabled innovations to help the retail industry reach new pathways in immersive commerce and connect consumer experience towards digital transformation trends that stand to disrupt eCommerce.
The retail industry is many things: dynamic, creative, adaptive, consumer-driven, and receptive to accommodating continuous and incremental changes to catch up with market expectations. Currently, the retail industry is undergoing fundamental changes and experiencing seismic shifts driven by external, internal, and business disruptions such as:
These factors put immense pressure on companies to change, innovate, optimize, respond, and adapt to the rapidly evolving retail landscape. Not rising to these challenges will put retail companies at risk.
Differentiation in the market space occurs when forward-thinking companies innovate disruptive ways of working that empower new business models that aim to optimize profitability, responsiveness, enhance customer experiences, and adapt to new market dynamics.
The digitization of connected things, or IoT, has emerged as a new opportunity for retailers to gain a competitive advantage. Connected devices shift commerce to digital space and provide new stellar customer experiences from storefront to supply chain management to - finally - the customer. IoT has numerous practical applications.
IoT's potential in the retail sector can be best viewed in three areas: logistics and digital supply chain, smart stores, and smart warehouses.
IoT will enhance end-to-end processes and inventory movements in real-time and allow for granular views across supply chains' ecosystems. This new technology will improve collaboration, enable greater operations agility, and deliver better end-to-end experiences. Here are three examples:
Enhanced customer experiences through immersive and conversational commerce, either in-store, on devices, or in the Metaverse, will disrupt current customer engagement models and move ever closer to hyper-personalized based retail marketing, content delivery, and buying experiences. Smart stores have the possibility to:
Digitized and connected warehouses will transition from traditional to connected and smart, becoming active participants in the business value chain process. Here are some characteristics that smart warehouses have:
Artificial intelligence is already disrupting the retail industry. Businesses investing in platforms that integrate IoT, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and edge computing technologies will be the market makers. While IoT is an emerging technology, its benefits outweigh the risks for early adopters in retail who intend to make IoT adaptations a reality to remain competitive.
The Internet of Things promises to revolutionize how we use the internet and how businesses can reach customers. Nisum has ridden the waves of innovation and always keeps an eye on what's to come. That is why Nisum is your best option when transforming your enterprise into a digital powerhouse. We have experienced teams that can deliver integrated cloud-based IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and rdge computing services to meet your customers’ objectives and can create success for all stakeholders. Leveraging over 20 years of experience in the retail sector, we tailor solutions with cutting-edge cloud-based, pre-configured, or open digital platforms.
Let Nisum's Insights and Analytics and Digital team empower you to make smart decisions based on real-time, fact-based intelligence and insights.