Retailers Ramp Up Sales Using IoT

Globally, retailers are expected to connect 12.5 billion business assets—including products, digital signs, and Bluetooth beacons—to Internet of Things (IoT) platforms by 2021, representing a 350 percent increase from 2016, according to a white paper from Juniper Research.

In “Agile Retail in the IoT,” Juniper predicts that radiofrequency identification (RFID) will become a key factor in the IoT ecosystem. RFID tags, which integrate easily with new IoT systems and analytics, will increasingly be used to identify and locate retail assets in real time, according to the researchers. Juniper also forecasts a surge in new services, such as dynamic pricing and promotional offers enabled via in-store digital signs.

“The retail industry has shifted from a cash-driven, supply-driven industry to one that is digitally- and demand-focused,” said the researchers. “Consumer expectations have altered considerably in response to online and mobile retail. The level of service a retailer can provide is now a key consideration before a purchase; it is, after all, now trivial to find the desired product at the lowest possible price, reducing this latter factor in importance.”