The Store of Today. Sponsored by

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1 The Store of Today Sponsored by

2 Introduction In recent years, the world of retail technology has been fixated on the idea of the Store of Tomorrow. This concept builds upon the now universally recognized fact that even in the digital age, the physical store represents about 90% of a typical retailer s sales. The Store of Tomorrow goes far beyond simple omnichannel strategies that aim to link the shopper s front-end store experience to her front-end digital experience across a retailer s touchpoints. Instead, the Store of Tomorrow is presented as an environment that is seamlessly connected with digital channels for true omnichannel purchasing, pickup and delivery. Inventory accuracy is a critical component of the Store of Tomorrow. Without reliable, real-time awareness and accessibility of their complete product assortment across all channels, retailers cannot fulfill the back-end promise of this customer-enabling model. In addition, based on full access to all inventory, this environment lets retailers offer the same type of personalization and promotion in-store that is available online. Most retailers are aware of the promise of the Store of Tomorrow. What many retailers are not aware of is that this futuristic scenario is currently available. With a backbone of real-time inventory accuracy and aided by a number of other leading-edge technologies, what is more accurately known as the Store of Today can deliver an unparalleled customer experience that drives significant increases in satisfaction, traffic, frequency of visits and ultimately sales. Sponsored by Intel and SATO Global Solutions (SGS), this white paper will describe in detail the technologies supporting the Store of Today, how the Store of Today experience works, and how the Store of Today reflects a larger leading-edge technology trend known as the Internet of Things (IoT). First, let s look at the key technologies supporting the Store of Today environment.

3 Store of Today Technology Infrastructure RFID RFID tags play a vital role in the Store of Today. They can track the location of items throughout the store and supply chain while protecting consumer privacy. Thus sales staff can be kept informed on inventory, stocking, product movement and local demand. RFID can reduce losses from misplaced or out-of-stock items and inventory shrink. In addition, RFID data can also be combined with other data, such as video, and quickly analyzed to provide a cohesive portrait of store activity and customer preferences. Cloud Infrastructure Cloud-based platforms provide stores with real-time, flexible access to robust enterprise systems that previously were only used on the back end. Freed from the need to create expensive, space-consuming physical infrastructure or network connections, stores can leverage the resources of inventory management, planning, warehouse management and other ERP systems in real time to provide a more seamless customer experience that is based on enterprisewide inventory awareness. Beacons Strategically placed beacons serve as omnichannel customer touchpoints that can help guide customers to make seamless in-store purchases. By recognizing the identity of customers who have opted in via their mobile devices, beacons can enable retailers to notify customers when they are near a desired item, provide tailored promotions and product information, and suggest complementary purchases. Mobile devices For customers, mobile devices serve as their personal seamless navigation device for the Store of Today. For store associates and managers, mobile devices provide real-time access to store and corporate systems that track inventory location and availability, as well as personalized customer history and preferences. Internally, mobile devices also notify associates of tasks that need to be accomplished, such as returning a misplaced item to the proper shelf location. Video Video data offers a deeper layer of analytics that can be used to enhance store assortment, planning and layout.

4 How the Store of Today experience works With beacon technology, the customer is recognized as soon as they approach the store via mobile geolocation. They are then invited in with a targeted promotion, delivered either via their mobile device or store-based digital signage. Video sensors detect and record customer movement around the store. This provides a wide range of real-time customer insight, including shopper path analytics, dwell times, conversion rates and merchandise display effectiveness. Customers can use their smartphone cameras to scan product barcodes to obtain information about products on their mobile devices and/or intelligent screens in the store. In addition, beacons deliver targeted promotions based on where customers travel and dwell throughout the store and what products they handle, with previous omnichannel shopping history taken into account. Loyalty apps can also be integrated with digital signage and in-store apps, such as in smart fitting rooms that automatically respond to customer requests. RFID tags give real-time data on current inventory, dramatically improving on-shelf availability of the products. Retailers can also provide customers with accurate, real-time information on the location of out-of-stock products in other stores or warehouses. This enables omnichannel purchase and fulfillment and saves otherwise lost sales. In addition, real-time data on movement of items provides retailers with a wide range of analytics. Interactive smart dressing room technology lets customers automatically request different items or suggested items for try-on without leaving the dressing room. They can also be provided with targeted up-sell and cross-sell promotions based on the items they bring into the fitting room. In addition, smart dressing room technology creates the opportunity for automatic self-checkout opens opportunity for automatic self-checkout inside the dressing room, and the ability for customers to automatically arrange for home or store delivery of goods not currently in stock. Real-time tracking of products allows real-time order and inventory management and can trigger orders for replenishment, using advanced sensor-based replenishment applications like the one offered by SGS. As the Store of Today continues morphing into the Store of Tomorrow, watch for this type of functionality to become even more prevalent.

5 Internet of Things (IoT) Real-time, sensor-enabled interaction is an important aspect of the Internet of Things (IoT). In the IoT, sensors and connected smart devices sense their environment and exchange data with networks over the Internet. This allows formerly once basic store systems, such as digital signage, to perform such tasks as delivering product information and promotions in response to customer queries or other real-time activities. Fortunately for retailers that wish to offer the benefits and reap the rewards of the Store of Today, Intel and SGS offer a joint solution that leverages IoT hardware and software to make the Store of Today an effectively and affordably achievable goal. This solution combines the Intel Retail Sensor Platform and SATO Global Solutions software to make the IoT-enabled Store of Today widely available to retailers. The Intel Retail Sensor Platform is an end-to-end retail analytics-based solution designed to help retailers create and deploy innovative retail systems. Solution components include an Intel processor-based Retail Sensor. This low-cost, low-power integrated sensor with RFID capability and an expandable sensor suite allows for the inclusion of additional sensors in a seamless and future-proof way, truly enabling the Store of Today to be relevant tomorrow. In addition, an Intel processor-based gateway gathers and filters sensor data, providing intelligent, trusted connectivity at the edge. An open source cloud analytics platform serves as a platform-asa-service (PaaS) for cloud applications, while a Trusted Analytics Platform (TAP) provides big data analytics on open source Hadoop and open source OpenStack for orchestration with private cloud or major public cloud providers. SGS integrates these components into a comprehensive retail solution that standardizes the collection, storage, and analytics for store-based events involving inventory and customer interactions. Designed to be future-proof and expandable, the solution will allow retailers to host a full-suite of retail applications by integrating other sensor technologies, as well as thirdparty data or applications, to meet their unique demands. To further enhance the value for customers, SATO Global Solutions and Intel are part of the Acuitas Digital Alliance comprised of British Telecom, Nexgen and RetailNext that jointly aims to create a future-proof solution for the digital business era with additional capacities.

6 Conclusion Aided by technology like the Intel Retail Sensor Platform and supporting software such as SGS Replenishment, retailers can provide customers with desired items on demand. While providing a best-in-class, seamless in-store customer experience, retailers are also able to obtain in-depth intelligence on customer behavior, store traffic patterns, and item movement and location. Specific benefits that this type of responsive, real-time store environment can provide include near 100% accurate insight into in-store inventory, including where it is located in the store. This heightened inventory awareness also allows retailers to obtain replenishment alerts when inventories are low at a subcategory level (size, color, etc.) at designated locations in the store, as well as maintain inventory in the appropriate location according to the planned store layout. Ultimately, retailers operating in the Store of Today environment know both their inventory and their customers better than ever before. And that s a healthy environment. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) expands the boundaries of technology to make the most amazing experiences possible. Information about Intel and the work of its more than 100,000 employees can be found at newsroom.intel.com and intel.com. SATO Global Solutions develops comprehensive IoT solutions that address client s unique needs by unleashing the power of data. As an Innovation Integrator, SGS combines technologies, hardware and applications that turn data into meaningful and actionable insight that enable clients to make data-driven decisions and maximize value across their business. For more information, visit or