IoE will help retailers create the intelligent high street – Part 2
Sarah Eccleston, Cisco
In the second part of her blog exploring how the Internet of Everything is enabling the intelligent high street, Sarah Eccleston, the director for enterprise Networks at Cisco UK & Ireland, expands on how IoT technologies can help integrate online and in-store behaviour.
Combining online and in-store
Just as the online retailers such as Amazon, ASOS.com and Tesco can tailor advertisements to shoppers based on previous purchasing, so can the IoE’s physical retail experience. With customers providing their personal login details, such as email addresses and mobile numbers, retailers are able to detect, connect and engage as soon as a consumer enters the store.
The 2012 Cisco BIG Awards winner, Snap Fashion, is bridging the divide between on and offline retail experiences. It is doing this by using complex algorithms to allow consumers to photograph items of clothing in-store, which are then matched with corresponding accessories or items from more than 30,000 online or physical retail stores. This enables customers to further optimise their shopping experience and have access to the benefits and ease of both online and physical shopping, also allowing retailers to upsell and fulfil customers’ shopping desires.
Furthermore, The Dandy Lab is an example of how IoE technology is being used to make more sophisticated connections between people, processes, data and things and aims to create a unique retail environment. Known as the ‘IoE store of the future’, The Dandy Lab has incorporated SnapFashion to create a virtual styling wall and is taking retailing one step further by including facial recognition so they can monitor a shopper’s emotions as they select an outfit. Additional capabilities such as NFC tagging, smart lighting, smart mannequins and conferencing technology is also set to be introduced to create a completely immersive retail experience. While this approach has yet to be adopted by all retailers, it further highlights the direction the most innovative businesses in the retail sector are heading.
Stock analysis
It’s not only the front of store experience that is getting more intelligent thanks to IoE technology. Today it is possible to improve stock management using insight from location specific content, which allows retailers to manage their store in a more cost effective manner. The same technology allows store owners to make accurate predictions of what people are looking to buy. By monitoring customer behaviour, making sense of what they are looking at and removing from the shelves, retailers can make smart decisions on not only what to do as a store, but also what promotions and offers they can aim at those particular individuals. Thus perfectly matching customer demand and maintaining loyal customers as a result.
By embracing the IoE technology that is already available today, the UK’s retail industry has a real opportunity to revolutionise the high-street and combine the benefits of tailored experiences so far seen online to in-store shopping on the high street, giving customers the best of both worlds. The ability to touch and try products as well as receive targeted offers and deals that help to create a unique experience just for them, changing the way they shop.
Ultimately, IoE technology allows retailers to easily review asset utilisation, supply chain and logistics, innovation, employee productivity and the customer experience, in a way that can completely transform an industry that’s desperately looking for its next big break.