How retail business expansion depends on better connectivity
Life is returning to normalcy and retailers are working towards balancing both their online and offline facilities. The boom in mobile networks and digitalization has forced retailers to look for better connectivity options for ease of access for their customers and employees. Satisfying the evolving needs of the consumer is a challenge for retailers. The modern retailer focuses on personalization, online shopping, digital payment, automated purchasing, inventory management and data integration. For this, the retail networking solution has to be agile and resilient.
A study by Incisiv on Connected Retail Experience reveals that only 22% of general retailers are satisfied with the connectivity solutions to manage their customers and offline stores and in speciality departmental stores only 55% are satisfied, leaving nearly half suffering from unreliable in-store connectivity. The problem is likely to rise in the coming months with a 93% increase in mobile usage inside the stores by 2025 and an 83% growth in in-store technology with the introduction of IoT devices.
The networking demands will rise by 2025 and the automated tasks are likely to be triple from the existing 19% to 62%. If retailers do not consider network expansion, then they may stand losing to their competitors.
The Solution
The retailers are joining hands with network companies to phase out their digital footprint to satisfy the evolving needs of the consumer. For this to happen, the adoption of analytics and AI is crucial. As the eCommerce chain is expanding, retailers do not want to compromise on the in-store experience too. For this, the retailers depend on a reliable and strong wired and wireless infrastructure. In-store connectivity is not restricted to Point Of Sale systems alone, today customers are looking for WiFi access and touchpoints to enrich their shopping experience.
Wireless Connectivity
Retail stores depend on wireless for a host of operations ranging from customer engagement, support, IoT, inventory management, marketing, advertising, data analysis, analytics and much more. Mobile supported Point of Sales system will provide updated customer information for backend processing and improving customer service and payment process.
The use of Bluetooth beacons will give retailers the advantage of geo-location technologies for personalized messaging to customers by alerting them about promotions and coupons. Many are of the misconception that WiFi will help retailers stay ahead of competitors but what they fail to realize is that it also helps them retain existing customers.
Software-defined networking
When a mobile solution is your primary option for customer engagement, the concern on security becomes crucial. Quite often, in-store wireless networks face security threats and they need robust and secure network connectivity when increasing their customer bandwidth. It is here that Software-defined networking (SDN) addresses the compliance concerns of the stores. SDN facilitates an adaptable and agile environment to manage network services. SDN architecture facilitates centralized network management for wired and wireless connectivity. It provides better visibility of connected devices, application performance, regulates traffic and resource usage.
The implementation of IoT solutions needs flexible SDN to configure the networks with ease. With SDN, increasing bandwidth to connect to the cloud is simple. Software-Defined Networks also aggregate multiple LTE networks and wired connections to give seamless bandwidth in remote stores & warehouse locations too.
SMOAD for retail
SMOAD SD-WAN allows the management of multiple branches from a centralized location. SMOAD aggregates 4G LTE and Broadband to ensure your business is up and running all the time. With SMOAD there are no worries of lag and intrusive IPs. Your business will never stop due to network dropping off. SMOAD plug and play routers are pre-configured and there is no installation or configuration time. Just plugin and you are connected. SMOAD solutions can provide seamless network solutions for retail chains.
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