Following early trials of beacon technology at Westfield Hornsby in NSW, the Internet of Things revolution for retail is a reality.
Zebra Technologies’ senior technical director for Asia Pacific Wayne Harper imagines a scenario in the near future: one where in-store IoT systems power dynamic cross- or up-sell opportunities.
You pick up some pasta in the supermarket – in the retail world imagined by Harper, the packet is tagged, triggering a nearby beacon – a small box that can communicate with other devices, typically via Bluetooth.
‘Seeing’ the tag move down the aisle the beacon can activate an in-store display or message to your smartphone with a coupon for sauce to accompany your impending pasta purchase.
“The system assumes if someone has bought pasta, typically they would also buy pasta sauce – but if they haven’t, what about we then promote fresh oregano and tomatoes because maybe they’re looking at creating their own sauce instead,” said Harper.
Although retailers are in various stages of technical readiness for IoT adoption, Harper said, they were willing to adapt and compete with smaller, more nimble rivals.
That is reinforced by Zebra’s recent Global Shopper Survey which found 96 percent of retailers are ready to make changes to bring the Internet of Things into their operations.
For more information, contact Zebra Technologies here.