New research from Juniper Research has demonstrated that the number of connected devices on the Internet of Things will reach 38.5 billion by 2020, an increase of 285 percent over 2015. And retailers will spend an anticipated $2.5 billion in hardware and installation costs in an effort to capitalize on those technologies, representing a nearly fourfold increase over the 2015 spend of $670 million.
According to Juniper Research, the IoT “represents the combination of devices and software systems, connected via the Internet, that produce, receive and analyze data. These systems must have the aim of transcending traditional siloed ecosystems of electronic information in order to improve quality of life, efficiency, create value and reduce cost.”
Bluetooth Beacons and RFID tags are among the leaders in retail expenditures. Beacons help enable visibility and allow retailers to push relevant information to customers’ smartphones, while RFID tags improve real-time asset tracking, reduce labor costs, and enable dynamic pricing.
The study, “The Internet of Things: Consumer Industrial & Public Services 2015-2020” revealed that leading retailers who are creating an ‘ecosystem’ via the IoT are in a favorable position to gain market advantage and capitalize on the opportunity. According to the study, “Linking the hardware elements of RFID tags, beacons, and connected consumer electronics, such as wearables, with software analytics promises in-depth business insight and an enhanced customer experience.”
Study author Steffen Sorrell explained, “Retailers such as Zara and Target are already taking advantage of the benefits offered by RFID asset tracking. Meanwhile the beacon industry is expanding rapidly; used as a method to provide customers with contextually relevant information in conjunction with their smartphone or wearable will enormously enhance the in-store experience.”
Of course, with the explosion of connected devices, the study also found that a new security model is necessary for the IoT, shifting from access prevention to a more robust model of identifying and preventing inevitable network breaches.
The study also found that 70 percent of IoT unites are expected to be composed of non-consumer devices by 2020, and the IoT opportunity is projected to reach $300 billion annually in 2020.
The whitepaper, IoT ~ Internet of Transformation, is available to download from the Juniper Research. website
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