Discover how the retail and QSR sectors can exploit new edge computing solutions for operational technology – to enhance customer experience and profitability with innovative smart stores, digital signage, intelligent supply chain and more.
Consumer service-focused businesses in the retail and QSR food sectors, as well as organizations providing campus or branch services, are increasingly seeking new and more sophisticated ways to improve customer experience (CX). The next wave of digital innovation in this area is happening not just in core data centers and the cloud, but also increasingly at the ‘edge’ – directly within the retail stores, restaurants, branches and other physical locations where customers are served, and sales are transacted. Retail organizations can exploit edge data to enhance customer experience and profitability with innovative solutions for smart stores, digital signage, intelligent supply chain and more. Makers of operational technology products for the retail and service sectors now have a huge new edge opportunity – but what is the best way to deliver on this?
Over recent decades, the e-commerce revolution has transformed the retail and service sectors. But ‘real-world’ stores, restaurants, branches and other consumer service environments are still here – with around 90% of purchases still made off-line (according to the latest U.S. Census). These physical retail locations have also become more high-tech than ever, with wireless point-of-sale terminals, contact-less payments, RFID sales tags, surveillance cameras, security systems, self-service kiosks and dynamic digital signage. Consumers are familiar with IT in retail, and recently with IoT devices like smart vending machines. Increasingly, retail operational technology (OT) products come with integrated sensors, video cameras and embedded systems – all generating data.
Better experiences at the edge
However, much of the potential value of edge data now being created in retail environments has not yet been fully exploited. While some data is transmitted to core data centers or cloud platforms, this is impractical for real-time analytics applications and large data volumes, due to issues of latency, connectivity, bandwidth costs and security. By bringing computing hardware and data analytics software directly into the edge environment, retail and service organizations can enable real-time consumer insights based on in-store behavior, helping them boost sales, and deliver a better, more personalized customer experience. The potential edge benefits can enable retail companies to:
- Compete against retail rivals with digital transformation in-store.
- Drive seamless integration of CX across in-store and online operations.
- Increase revenues with dynamic demand-driven pricing.
- Improve efficiency with real-time stock monitoring and smart supply chain logistics.
- Use digital signage to drive custom with personalized information and offers.
Makers of retail OT solutions wanting to exploit this edge opportunity are choosing Arrow to help them as a trusted partner – bringing the edge expertise, capabilities, products and services they need for success.
Edge thinking on display
For instance, we recently helped a leading maker of media player technology bring their new edge solution to reality. Using digital signage with media player hardware and software is a powerful combination for a wide range of edge environments, from retail stores and QSR food outlets to bank branches. However, the ongoing challenges of operating and maintaining these multi-part systems can cause headaches and downtime for organizations that install them. For an improved solution, we helped our customer to develop a pre-configured, tested and validated bundle of hardware and software, offered as a turnkey appliance. Arrow undertook design and engineering and ensured the software integration works seamlessly. Arrow also equipped the solution with edge connectivity, enabling us to provide remote customer support as a managed service.
Want to learn more about your edge opportunity? Download our ebook on the evolving edge landscape and read our practical guide to developing your own edge OT solution. We’re ready to help you uplift your retail edge product plans.
