If you haven’t heard much about RFID lately, you soon will.
RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips are set to re-emerge as the “killer ap” for retailers who will link billions of devices over the next five years in order to drive more sales, says a new report from Juniper Research.
Personalized retail is an example of what “could be achieved by integrating enterprise software and emerging technologies, with data from connected IoT assets,” Juniper notes.
For example, consider pace-setter Rebecca Minkoff, which sells luxury handbags, accessories, footwear, and apparel.
“Innovative retailers such as Rebecca Minkoff have combined RFID with smart mirrors” says Juniper research author Steffen Sorrell. “Integrating these systems allows real-time information to improve the store experience and bridge physical and virtual worlds – in this case, the concept drove a 200% increase in sales.”
Juniper forecasts that retailers plan to surge IoT device connections to 12.5 billion by 2021, up from 2.7 billion last year.
That’s a 350 percent increase.
Retailers will be tying in products, digital signs and Bluetooth beacons in growing numbers with RFID chips “becoming the key factor in the IoT retail ecosystem,” Juniper says.” RFID tags, used to identify and locate retail assets in real-time, are now at a low enough price point for mass deployment and integrate well with new IoT systems and analytics. New services, such as dynamic pricing or enabling promotional offers via in-store digital signs are also poised for growth.”
Read more about the report, “IoT in Retail: Strategies for Customer Experience, Engagement & Optimization 2017-2021,” at Juniper’s website.
argued that ‘next-gen’ processes, such as personalised retail, could be achieved by integrating enterprise software and emerging technologies, with data from connected IoT assets. Juniper forecast that software spend for enterprise resource planning systems to integrate this data would reach $11.3bn annually in 2021, from $1.5bn in 2017.
