Connecting Retail with the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) has long been talked about as the next big thing in our connected world. From changing the way we drive, to helping monitor our health, to heating our homes more efficiently, the new machine-to-machine (M2M) world on our doorstep promises a new way of living.

In our twenty years of business, we’ve been at the forefront of the technological developments that have changed our daily life. In the retail world, arguably the biggest change to the landscape was the introduction of Chip and PIN. Working with some of the biggest names in retail, we helped to ensure they received low-cost networks that allowed them to stay constantly connected and transfer the wealth of new data needed to complete an almost instant payment process.

Now the retail world is set to undergo its next major revolution with the Internet of Things. This could mean installing connected lighting and escalators that work together as a whole function, helping save energy and reduce bills. It can also include many aspects that offer to improve the customer experience and help gather usable data on consumers that will help improve the bottom line.

Computing magazine hosted a webinar on the Internet of Things last week and posted the below graph which showed that retail is the top industry in which respondents believe the IoT will have the most impact (second overall only to domestic/leisure use). In-store experiences such as virtual reality and Bluetooth tracking beacons, combined with back-store tracking, traceability and customer activity reporting, all offer retailers smarter ways of doing business.

Computing research suggests #IoT will have most impact on Domestic/leisure, retail & health sectors#ctgwebinars pic.twitter.com/aTDJiQYenP

— Computing Magazine (@Computing_News) June 18, 2015

Smarter businesses demand smarter networks however, and the demands that retailers and their network providers needed to meet for Chip and PIN can be multiplied almost exponentially for the Internet of Things. Business-only connectivity via high-speed MSPL / fibre networks, combined with 4G and eventually 5G mobile networks, offers the opportunity for retailers to start integrating the IoT into their business today to ensure they are at the front line to take advantage of the retail world of tomorrow.