We read so much about the Internet of Things and currently 72% of retailers engage in EIoT projects. However, as outlined in this infographic from the CUBE, all the security issues related to its use or not yet solved. The customer is very open to offeres via connected tech and 80% of millennials and high-income shoppers would purchase more from retail stores that offer great mobile in-store shopping tools. Moreover, 66% of customers would use the retailers in-store Wi-Fi to receive product information or avail of special offers. The reality is that major retailers are always aiming to make life as easy as possible for their customers.
EIoT has the potential to walk the customer through the entire buying process efficiently from the moment they research a product to walking out of the store after making a purchase. For example, if a customer agrees to opt into a digital app that would inform them of offers that are personally relevant to them, they can then target the customer when they’re near the store – even a few days later when approaching the retailers. As they enter the store and come near the digital signage, the content can change to provide the customer a more personalized digital offer. They can even choose to get assistance from a store associate and the store associate will receive a request with all the relevant information to help the customer.
It’s clear that EIoT has numerous benefits but unfortunately there are still many issues with it involving security, privacy, addressing, and computing. The issue with many EIoT manufacturers is that security can become an afterthought as they are more focussed on pushing out new devices than ensuring security. Another big issue is privacy and EIoT has yet to develop encryption and data privacy solutions that are good enough while also being economical enough.
The right EIoT partner must be able to demonstrate that they are interested in protecting the privacy of you and your customers’ information. The last thing any company wants is to get into a situation where there is a data leak as that kind of bad publicity can have a detrimental effect on a company. Retailers need to ensure that whatever system they use is secure, otherwise they could face some serious problems with security down the line. Find out more information about EIoT in retail in the infographic.
