Let’s break down the exciting innovations in the relationship between retail stores and IoT technology.

The IoT — short for “Internet of Things” — refers to the concept of integrating Internet connectivity into everyday objects. Everything from automobiles sending GPS data accessible on your smartphone, to a thermostat you can adjust from anywhere with an internet connection falls under this category.

As a retailer, there’s a good chance you already have some IoT integration in your retail space. If not, or if you’re looking to expand in useful ways, here are are the top 3 trends for retail stores and IoT:

• People Counters are embedded sensor devices that activate every time a person passes through. These are especially helpful for furniture stores, which often have foot traffic from customers who aren’t ready to buy on that particular day. This is a great way to track customer habits. For example, you can leverage the IPC data against your sales data to set sales targets. Some sensors even support deeper analytics of your customers. They can recognize things like height on the fly.
• Beacons are a broad category of IoT sensors with many useful applications. For furniture stores, they’re especially useful as a marketing tool. Beacons can track when customers with smartphones are in a specific physical context, and provide discounts, deals, and information directly to their smartphones. A functional, lucrative example: a return customer checks out a piece of furniture, and receives a personalized discount offer on it, right there. Instead of your marketing going broad, smart use of beacons can target the best customers and encourage them to spend more.
• RFID provides an easy to use digital signature for all of your products, updating availability on the fly. IoT integration with RFID means there’s no difference between online and in-store stock numbers. RFID also opens opportunities for purchasing. Potentially, consumers could see an item they want, purchase it immediately, and have a receipt on their smartphone. All within seconds. As any experienced retailer knows, the fewer barriers between customers and a purchase, the more sales you’ll take in overall.

For more information on how advances in IoT technology could help your store increase customer loyalty and increase profits, contact us today!