IoT in Retail Fashion — The Perfect Fit?
In recent years, boutique retailers, as well as big names in the industry, have embraced IoT as an empowering new technology. IoT is an ever-growing network of Internet-enabled devices that can communicate with each other. By integrating IoT (Internet of Things) with their products and services, retailers are improving the customer experience during all its stages. Let’s take a closer look at the role of IoT in retail fashion.
The Many Uses of IoT in Retail Fashion
Macy’s was one of the early adopters of IoT (Internet of Things) in retail fashion. Back in 2014, the famed department store came up with the idea of beacons. These wireless devices used Bluetooth to send customers location-based promotions to their devices. This acted as an incentive for customers to download and install the brand’s app on their devices. The approach caught on and today there are over 4,000 beacons across 700 Macy’s stores.
Fast forward to 2018 and the launch of Amazon’s Echo Look. Echo Look is a hands-free style assistant with Alexa built-in. It can help you take beautiful photos and 360-degree videos while trying on new outfits. But it can do more than that. Through a mobile app, it can tap into Amazon’s huge catalog of fashion items to offer you style suggestions.
Shoes don’t match? Echo Look uses machine learning and advice from stylists to help you find and order a better pair. It also lets you organize your wardrobe and share it with friends.
IoT Simplifies Shopping
Today, fashion retailers are finding new uses for IoT in local stores. Tommy Hilfiger uses in-store item scanning to help customers check stock and order items faster. United Colors of Benetton offers an interactive shopping experience that uses in-store sensors. These sensors interact with the apps that shoppers carry in their pockets and display dynamic content on in-store screens. Taking it all a step further, GAP features Smart Trail Rooms with product recommendations.
More practical applications of IoT in fashion stores include self-checkout and faster payment options. It’s important to remember that most fashion retailers operate online as well as offline. Brands can consolidate online and offline information into shopper profiles.
These profiles can include a remarkable amount of information about shopping behavior and preferences. It can help retailers craft richer, more personal shopping experiences.
Meanwhile, brands across the retail fashion industry are embedding RFID tags into their products. They do it to control inventory and prevent counterfeiting. It also lets them understand customer preferences better.
Brands link the information in the RFID tags to customer cards and scan these in stores at checkout. They can then use the insights they gain for very targeted marketing campaigns. At the same time, fashion retailers can ensure that popular products are always on the shelf. Of course, this also prevents overstock. This applies to both brick-and-mortar stores and online stores.
Benefits of IoT in Retail Fashion
IoT brings fashion retailers new data and new ways to interpret that data. Because of this, they can forge a stronger connection with their customers. Regardless of how you may implement IoT technology, the data it brings you is valuable. Here’s why.
· Brings you a better understanding of how customers use products
· Helps you understand customers’ needs
· Makes it easy to optimize stock
· Provides more accurate product recommendations
· Improves product design
· Offers you insight into how to innovate and develop better products
The Future of IoT in Retail Fashion
The Internet of Things is here to stay. With so many brands finding innovative ways to adapt different IoT devices to their needs, IoT solutions in the fashion world are here to stay.
IoT can help fashion retailers understand their customers better. It can create richer shopping experiences, and so help sell more. For fashion retailers big and small, IoT could be the solution to creating the most personal shopping experience to date.
With over 70% of retail decision-makers around the world ready to adopt this technology, the future of IoT in retail fashion is assured. IoT is set to revolutionize the industry, strengthening the bond between brands and customers.
Are you active in the retail industry? If you are, adopting IoT now — if you haven’t already — could give you an edge over competitors.
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