Using Data, IoT to ReInvent Store Experience

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Goro Yumiba, chairman and CEO of SATO Global Solutions, and learned how retailers can leverage Internet of Things solutions, including RFID, to bolster in-store experiences.

How can embracing the power of data improve retailers’ business processes, growth and results?

In today’s fast paced dynamic business environment, successful retailers must be responsive to the market and make decisions promptly. Enter the power of data.

Data has the ability to provide deeper insight into inventory, customers and workforce — information that helps them increase sales and decrease costs. This is increasingly important as U.S. retailers strive to improve profitability of brick-and-mortar stores.

Only stores can deliver a complete sensory shopping experience — and with the right item in the right place, at the right time, physical stores’ natural advantage re-emerges. This advantage could be leveraged by empowering sales associates through the use of data. However, these advantages can only be recognized when data is turned into meaningful and actionable insight.

How does the Internet of Things help retailers achieve these goals?

IoT provides a multitude of solutions that are beneficial to the retail industry. The benefit of RFID technology for example, reaches far beyond supply chain management.

For example, average product on-shelf availability is 60%-65%, according to Intel Lab. Having real-time inventory visibility is the first step to address the $1.75 trillion problem the industry is facing due to overstocks, out-of-stocks, and returns, according to data from IHL Group.

A simple solution to increase sales is to ensure the right products are in the right place — all the time. By capturing item location data or product movement through RFID, store associates are promptly notified about misplaced items, display low/empty in order for them to maintain the store display at an optimal level.

Meanwhile, smart fitting room applications that utilize RFID technology provides shoppers with an ability to explore product details and request different colors or sizes without leaving the room.

While shoppers and store associates interact with IoT tech, retailers can leverage solution data to gain insight into customer preferences and employee productivity. This connectivity will help the physical store’s natural advantage to re-emerge.

Where does the industry stand in its adoption of IoT?

Retailers are adopting IoT technologies like RFID for limited purposes, and have not unlocked its full potential. Retailers could obtain new levels of insight if the data obtained by RFID is integrated with other IoT technologies, such as video, beacons and other sensors.

Where do retailers still struggle when it comes to adopting IoT?

Executing IoT solutions requires sophisticated integration of diverse components, including software, hardware, network, cloud, etc. No single company can deliver the service alone. Sometimes retailers are forced to deal with multiple vendors and manage those components by themselves.

Retailers may still have an organizational structure where each department buys a separate solution that is designed to solve one problem. As data is captured by each solution, it tends to be kept in silos, thereby limiting retailers the ability to take full advantage of the power of data.

How can SATO Global Solutions help chains overcome these challenges?

Our Vision Retail platform helps in-store retailers compete, with our integrated Sales Associate and Smart Fitting Room applications enhancing inventory visibility and creating a VIP shopping experience. Designed as an expandable, sustainable and scalable solution, the platform seamlessly connects tags, sensors, gateways, and videos in a robust IoT ecosystem to address traditional issues that have prevented retailers from adopting RFID solutions.

In order to simplify the implementation of the digital transformation for retailers, SATO Global Solutions has strategically partnered with global technology leaders like Intel, BT, RetailNext and others to form the Acuitas Digital Alliance.

Our group provides a secure, cloud-based, and future-proof solution for businesses that want to take real-time advantage of big data and the IoT to optimize operations throughout their entire supply chain, while better engaging with their end customers.