Sep 15, 2017Mojix, a Los Angeles-based radio frequency identification and Internet of things technology company, is merging with European IoT firm CXignited. The two businesses announced their decision this week and indicated that the combined entity will operate under their respective names—Mojix and CXignited—until new information about the merger's branding is released.
The merger, the companies say, will create a global solution provider that offers the versatility required by retailers, brands and manufacturers as they automate their inventory-management processes and boost in-store customer experiences. Dan Doles will serve as the president and CEO of the combined entity. Alain Fanet, formerly CXignited's CEO, will be the chief strategic officer, and will lead the merger to develop the retail global market strategy and execution.
Mojix, founded in 2004, provides wide-area UHF RFID systems for retailers, as well as other vertical markets, such as manufacturing, health care, event security, and oil and gas. Its solutions include its STAR and STARflex RFID readers for the indoor, real-time tracking of such items as merchandise in a store, without requiring a handheld interrogator, and the ViZix IoT platform solution for real-time inventory data and in-store analytics (see The Brightest Star, Mojix Introduces STARflex RFID Reader and Mojix Unveils ViZix Sensor Network Management Platform). The company also provides handheld solutions, in addition to apps that would enable store associates or merchandising managers to locate items quickly in order to fulfill e-commerce orders, or to aid customers who are physically at a store.
Based in Paris, CXignited was previously known as Tagsys RFID. In 2016, the company was rebranded to focus on retail, and to offer hybrid solutions that would address not only inventory management but the in-store experience, to help retailers compete with online sales. The "CX" in "CXignited" derives from the words "customer experience," the company explains.
CXignited provides cloud-based solutions for retailers with its ShopCX Cloud platform. Its Unified Commercial information-intelligence software uses location data from RFID, as well as from Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons and other IoT-based sensors (see Loewe Pilots Real-time Location System for Luxury Apparel, Accessories).
"We see retail as a continuing driver for new types of solutions," Doles says, that go far beyond supply chain and inventory visibility. Mojix has been building a variety of solutions that meet the needs of stores in the United States and globally. CXignited, meanwhile, has offered its IoT solutions to luxury retailers and brands, most often with RFID readers or beacons built into store-front displays and fixtures.
The merger allows Mojix to offer its real-time fixed reader solution, as well as fixture- or display-specific read zones, along with handheld solutions, cloud-based software and mobile apps. Retailers and brands can select and personalize the technologies to fit their needs. "Some environments lend themselves well to overhead reading," Doles says, while in other cases, a less expensive system involving handhelds or fixtures only may be the better choice. "It allows us to optimize a solution from a cost perspective."
The pressure on retailers with brick-and-mortar stores is driving the adoption of RFID and other automation technologies, the entities have found, and is fueling creative solutions to attract customers and complete sales. A sale may begin digitally and end physically, Doles says—with engagement online that attracts a shopper to a physical store—or begin at a store when a purchase transaction takes place online via a mobile device. Stores use a variety of methods to enable such models (and others), and to still complete a sale.
Additionally, Mojix is providing dual UHF RFID and Near Field Communication (NFC) tags to some retailers and brands so that shoppers, as well as store personnel, can read tags. In that scenario, the UHF tags enable the inventory management of goods as they arrive at a store and as they move from the back room to the store front. The NFC functionality could allow a shopper to access information regarding a particular product using his or her NFC-enabled smartphone, such as authenticity, manufacture date and location, and other products that would pair well with that item.
While Mojix serves customers across all industries, Doles says, the CXignited merger reflects the out-paced demand from retailers. With the merger, he expects Mojix to be positioned at the forefront in retail solutions worldwide. "We now have a very large presence in the European Union," he states, as well as in North America and the Asia-Pacific Region. "I think, when it comes to automated stores with smart products, the merger puts us as the leader in the space." In the meantime, he reports, the company's non-retail business is growing as well.
