Retail needs a full connect with ‘Internet of Things’

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a world where all gadgets can send and receive data over the internet.

For example your alarm clock could signal the coffee machine to prepare your morning brew, or your appointment calendar can be synched to the car’s GPS to plan the shortest route to your meetings. All present possibilities for real-time, personalised and adaptive communication between man and machine.

As such, the internet of things offers us plenty of applications in both personal and business settings, and create opportunities for marketers and retailers to interact with consumers in new ways.

While a significant contributor to the GDP, retail in the Middle East has been a late bloomer. We have struggled to get our loyalty programmers right and e-commerce has just begun to take its baby steps. We are a great city, we have the best malls, the best shop fronts … so why not the best IoT applications?

The internet of Things will present retailers with a wider platform for messaging and advertising, as well as a better understanding of the data we collect. It helps create new data points to use for customer service excellence and profitability. We need to look at what is possible and integrate it to the maximum.

When a customer walks into a store looking for a specific product in a particular colour, only to discover that it’s out of stock, he/she needs to immediately know if the product is available in another outlet or when it could come into the store again.

This info needs to be provided instantly, something that’s often a challenge to staff in a busy store. It involves them having to drop whatever they are doing, walk up to the counter, log into the system and check. Or call another store and wait for the information from the other end.

The delay in answering this simple question often ruins the shopping experience for the customers, but the solution is simple. Empower the store staff with mobile devices that track real-time inventory across stores. More importantly, IoT will enable us to collect enough data on the shopper’s habits to be able to offer alternative solutions that are a match to his likings, thus ensuring his engagement with the brand.

As retailers, we are in the business of making shopping fun, and even therapeutic at times. But retail therapy only works if the experience is seamless and hassle-free. Waiting to have your queries answered or queuing up at checkout lines can hamper this experience.

When you have a business where everything is connected, then simple sensors monitoring checkout counters in real-time can immediately alert the store to open additional checkout lanes, as required.

Another opportunity that IoT provides is real-time targeted marketing. Personalise offers based on the information we know and have about the shopper.

So if you are an avid photographer and purchase the latest cameras and lenses, the store will be equipped to send you information on the newest models available and even create offers based on your interest.

As more devices connect to the internet and begin ‘talking’ to each other, retailers can only ignore IoT to the risk of their business. Gartner projects the internet of Things to contribute up to $19.1 trillion to the global economy, with about 30 billion mobile devices connected by 2020.

That’s over four connected devices a person. The big question is how are we going to make use of these devices?

I foresee large possibilities and a bright future for the retail industry with IoT. I think it’s time we started analysing the readiness of our organisations and people, to invest and make the most of IoT.

— The writer is the CEO of Emax.