Nigerian CommunicationWeek

New Retail Insights Arms Retailers with IoT Technology Strategy

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A new report has emerged, outlining strategic IoT plan to guide the reduced cost of ownership of IoT technologies, and enable continued agility and innovation.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) Retail Insights on Monday announced the availability of the new report, “Business Strategy: Developing an IoT Technology Strategy”, which outlines how retailers must plan now for IoT, even if IoT hasn’t made it to the top of the priorities list.

According to the new report, applied IoT technology positively impacts top and bottom line business performance by improving omni-channel operations and enabling personalized and contextualized interaction with consumers.

Understanding the technology landscape and defining a roadmap for IoT implementation requires uncommonly long range planning, but is rewarded with reduced long term implementation costs and total cost of ownership (TCO).

The convergence of cloud, mobile, big data/analytics and sensors has created an opportunity for retailers to engage consumers and employees in radically new ways.

Within 5 years consumers will expect that retailers engage them with personalized and contextualized interactions.

In the same time frame, if the retailer hasn’t figured out how to improve real time inventory accuracy to 98% or better, they will struggle to close the online or click and collect sale.

This report provides retailers with advice on a definition of IoT technology; a thorough examination of the technology landscape for IoT (for retailers); specific steps to developing a IoT technology strategy and guidance for driving retail IoT programs forward.

Leslie Hand, research director, IDC Retail Insights, reported that, “Retailers can improve operations, reduce risk and loss, and wow the consumer with IoT enabled capabilities. Now is the time to establish a strategy and develop a roadmap for IoT. A well thought out plan will guide the reduced cost of ownership of IoT technologies, and enable continued agility and innovation. “

In another new report announced same day, Business Strategy: Understanding the IoT Use Cases For Retail, many of the most common use cases that are being implemented today are discussed including product tracking / traceability, interactive consumer engagement and operations, mobile payments, asset management and fleet and yard management.

The IoT journey, rich in opportunities, is also full of challenges – the biggest of which is enabling tactical applications sometimes in isolation of a plan for an architecture designed for IoT.

IoT requires an event oriented paradigm, which includes listening, bi-directional messaging, information distribution, and communications over a variety of networks.

The architecture for IoT stretches the limits of retail legacy networks.

When evaluating IoT technologies, IDC Retail Insights recommends retailers gain an understanding of the technology landscape for the variety of technologies and the related intersection points as soon as possible

The new report outlines specific steps to developing a IoT technology strategy and emphasizes that retailers interested in engaging the omni-channel consumer with consistent personalized and increasingly contextualized physical and digital interactions, should consider how to build an architecture for IoT that will continue to adapt to consumer interaction patterns and needs. Meanwhile, technology vendors and consultants should help retail enterprises define and understand the IoT opportunities and the path forward.

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