Dec 12, 2017The Internet of Things (IoT) market size for retail is set to exceed $30 billion by 2024, according to a new research report from Global Market Insights. Increasing adoption of the Internet of Things by retailers to enhance the customer experience, reduce costs and improve overall performance is expected to drive the IoT in retail market growth during the forecast timeline. Rising trend of digitization across the retail sector, coupled with the increasing usage of smart devices, contributes significantly to the industry growth. In order to gain shopper insights, understand buying behavior, and deliver customized offers and promotions, retailers are increasingly deploying such solutions.
The IoT has enormous potential to transform the retail industry. The various benefits include efficient store management, tracking and monitoring inventory, and improving store security and loss prevention. Automated checkout, tracking product quality and optimizing supply chain management are among the other benefits of implementing the technology. Growing internet connectivity across various regions, coupled with the increasing adoption of smartphones, is anticipated to propel the IoT in retail market growth. Factors including the gradual decline in prices of components such as RFID tags and sensors is expected to contribute to the adoption.
Concerns related to data security and privacy might hinder the IoT in retail market growth. Factors such as the high cost associated with implementation, coupled with the interoperability of devices in the system, are anticipated to curb the demand for such technological solutions.
The increasing installation of IoT solutions by retailers is expected to drive the adoption of connectivity technology such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) in the IoT in retail market. It identifies registered customers when they enter stores and sends them messages that include customized promotions and offers. BLE is generally used for applications that require the exchange of data in low volume and consumes less power compared to Bluetooth. The RFID market is anticipated to grow significantly due to increasing adoption, as well as the rapidly declining cost of RFID tags.
Wide adoption in such applications as digital signage, mainly used for advertising and marketing, is expected to fuel the IoT in retail market growth. Advantages of digital signage include offering customers an interactive shopping experience and making innovative advertisements available to the masses in reduced time. An intuitive touch screen offering customers personalized and relevant content is anticipated to fuel such growth.
The Asia-Pacific market for IoT in retail is expected to witness significant growth pertaining to the retail sector in economies such as China, Japan and India. Increasing disposable income of the middle-class population residing in those economies, combined with the growing user base of smartphones, accounts for the industry growth in the region. Improving the customer experience, followed by speeding up the checkout process, are the main reasons for implementing such solutions by retailers.
North America, the largest market for retail, is expected to grow considerably. This is attributed to early technology adoption, in addition to the presence of an organized retail sector in the region. The retailers in that are primarily focus on enhancing supply chain performance by heavily investing in technologies such as automated inventory verification.
Companies in the retail IoT market comprise IBM, Intel, Microsoft, SAP, Zebra Technologies, Cisco Systems and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The players are making huge investments in R&D to gain eminence. Moreover, they are increasingly focusing on enhancing the overall customer experience by innovating and differentiating the services. You can learn obtain a copy of Global Market Insights' report at https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/iot-internet-of-things-retail-market.
Shikha Sinha is an electrical and electronics engineer who, with her experience in content and technology writing, develops content for Global Market Insights. Her experience also includes the content-marketing, market-research and business-development domains. Shikha's other interests include sketching, reading and singing.
