Real-Time Store Internet of Things Platform Moves into Mainstream

The real-time store Internet of Things platform is moving into the mainstream, climbing out of the “trough of disillusionment” into the “slope of enlightenment,” according to Gartner’s “2020 Hype Cycle for Retail Technologies” report.

These platforms “monitor, analyze and display store activity through dashboards using a real-time data infrastructure, via signals and alerts from real time data sources that are available within the retail store,” according to Gartner.

Few, if any, existing in-store technologies enable retailers to reap the benefits of the “network effect.” Within an IoT context, the network effect connects multiple individual initiatives together holistically to benefit from their synergy.

More than this, it enables an automated and rapid response to events within the store or supply chain: adjusts lighting in response to in-store traffic; automatically adjusts a promotion in response to unforecasted demand; proactively deploys staff based on projected need; replenishes product on shelf, just-in-time — the list goes on.