Personalized customer experiences through IoT technology

Technological advancements drive progress across various industries. Businesses – regardless of focus area or size – are gradually implementing innovative solutions and IoT technologies in particular. We should say that making a business digital is no longer a beneficial option for an industry’s first-movers – it’s rather a necessary condition in the new realities. 

As industries are developing, customers’ demands are growing too with their expectations constantly changing and evolving. Looking for a seamless experience, people tend to be extremely picky these days. Why? It can be explained logically. Nowadays we’ve got such an extensive pool of options – no matter what kind of services or products you require. We’ve got plenty of alternatives varying in price, quality, and other key characteristics. In case we’re not completely satisfied, we just move on to the next better option. Thus you see that being at the forefront of advanced technology integration is important in terms of withstanding tough competition and actually remaining relevant. 

However, some people still wonder whether it’s possible to make it on the market without digitization. Well, maybe. For example, it will be a good old store that evokes a sense of nostalgia. There’s something special about it, isn’t it? But when it comes to internal workflows and business results, you won’t be that happy. Trust us – you will lose more if you avoid spending on business digitalization.

IoT is the next game-changer

The Internet of Things is one of the biggest buzzes in the tech industry at the moment. This technology is rapidly expanding and so is the number of connected devices. According to the IHS Markit expectations, 125 billion devices could be connected via the IoT by 2030. 

IoT has already changed the market landscape and impacted businesses in many ways yet we look forward to more. It helps meet new requirements and boost efficiency. 

IoT is no longer a new, exaggerated, or distant technology. We’ve quickly gotten used to it so it’s rather commonplace now. There is a huge variety of applications developed to meet consumer, commercial, and infrastructure demands. The potential of the technology is enormous, so in this article, we will focus particularly on its ability to foster personalized customer experience.

Enhance CX through the power of IoT

Today the way businesses are run is completely different. There was a time when the customer experience didn’t differ much no matter what store a customer entered. But now, for better or worse, the retail industry is regulated with new rules. 

Technology has been raising an expectation for better, more personalized shopping experiences.

Consumers don’t generally understand or care what’s pushing these enhanced experiences they crave. After all, it’s all about internal processes and optimizations. But that’s exactly what improves the bottom line for retailers.

The two best assistants in terms of delivering enjoyable customer experiences are edge computing and IoT. 

Retailers are among the fastest-growing segments adopting the Internet of Things with its multiple devices and other types of IoT solutions.

An interesting fact: according to Analyticsteps, these are the top areas of IoT application:

Bringing IoT devices at incredible speeds gives retailers an unprecedented opportunity to personalize the customer experience and deliver the best services to their audiences. In fact, it opens the door for numerous improvements. The emergence of IoT has caused a real stir and led to a seismic shift in customer experience and engagement.

Prediction means personalization

In every industry and retail in particular, fierce competition requires the use of varying tactics to gain an advantage. Each provider aims at keeping the existing customers as well as attracting new ones. Basically, personalization is a critical factor in a delightful customer experience. We all love that feeling of being special, right?

Well, IoT along with Big Data has a lot to do with personalization. IoT devices provide valuable insights into the customers’ needs through data collection and analysis. With this, retailers can offer products as per specific needs and therefore boost loyalty. Storing large amounts of data is also quite a challenge, but Big Data can solve this problem. 

Interactions between a retail store and its customers aren’t just limited to point of sale. Today retailers need information from customer reviews, surveys, and complaints as well as their behavior analysis in order to give them right what they look for. This has become possible with cutting-edge technology. 

An ultimate guide to excellent customer experience

Technologies change the overall perspective of marketing and sales making retailers reshape their strategies and approach them differently. Positive customer experiences are achieved by incorporating assortment flexibility, inventory optimization, and operational efficiency into day-to-day processes. 

We’ve brought together some of the most effective tips on how to enhance customer experience and make it personalized. To get started, consider the following practices. 

Simplify a buyer’s journey

Customers don’t want to waste their precious time looking for the items they need for too long. They say time is money. That’s right. We all appreciate high-quality yet fast services. In case people don’t get it in your store, next time they will choose a competitor immediately. To please the customers, you have to ensure well-designed store layouts with intuitive shelf-stocking so buyers can easily find what they need. Here you need to be aware of what the proper realogram-to-planogram alignment is. Don’t get nervous because of some unknown words – it’s really simple. 

A planogram is the optimal in-store layout visual representation based on data assessment and consumer trends. A realogram is the actual real-time view of the shelf, product assortment, or floor layout. 

Providing an efficient realogram-to-planogram alignment along with an app-based store map upgrades customer experience significantly. Buyers can instantly check the exact locations of the required items in the store. Additionally, retailers can easily organize shelves by considering sales, changes in demand, seasonality, industry trends, or other external circumstances. 

Keep customers informed

Take buyers’ insecurity away! How? Provide them with detailed information about items in your store so it will be much easier for them to decide on a purchase. After all, people always want to know what they pay for and be sure it is worth the money. 

Advanced analytics is another big thing for retailers. If using the information gained by utilizing the power of IoT about shopper trends, they can help customers make smart purchases. In simple terms, a buyer receives a personalized recommendation with the option that suits their needs best. 

It all results in an enhanced customer experience because people will feel taken care of.

Integrate multi-device intelligence

This refers to the ability of an artificial intelligence system or application to seamlessly operate and communicate across multiple devices. In other words, it means that the AI can recognize and remember user preferences, behaviors, and patterns regardless of the device being used, and provide a consistent experience across different platforms.

Analyze how your customers use various interconnected devices to ensure a seamless customer experience. IoT-powered devices collect data from a customer’s device related to network configuration and activities. The obtained insights are then analyzed to provide solutions that will eliminate issues for buyers and offer specific recommendations as per particular customer needs. 

Make the most out of customer insights

Retailers used to have limited interaction with their customers but things have changed recently. We should admit, when it comes to technology and the retail sector, things never stand still, so keeping up with trends is a bit challenging but rewarding. Earlier, retail stores used only sales reports and customer feedback for analyzing buying behavior. But now, thanks to innovative technologies, they can collect, manage, and analyze real-time data and therefore get quicker access to key insights about consumer trends, product performance, and buying behavior.

Needless to mention, IoT accelerates R&D services. What does that mean? Retailers can upgrade their offerings according to the customer needs and purchase decisions as well as predict future customer preferences. 

Boost inventory management

Always keep an eye on the shelves. Ok, what we want to say is that you must keep inventory under control all the time and ensure customers get their goods as quickly as possible. Just admit it – empty shelves and long delivery time are the two worst things a buyer can ever experience. We know how you can avoid this. Utilize IoT technology to get effective assistance with stock management. 

IoT employs radio frequency identification tags that enable tracking the movement of your merchandise. This way you can easily monitor your inventory and get the most recent information on the items’ availability.

IoT-powered sensors are the next smart solution. They let you know when the stock is running short so you avoid stockouts.

Ads that don’t make customers irritated

That’s a well-known fact: people hate it when intrusive ads spoil their enjoyable experience. Overwhelming your audience with various types of ads is pointless and often detrimental to your business. You should learn how to keep the perfect balance. Customers want to be informed but there should not be aggressive advertising at every turn. 

The Internet of Things strategy allows for timely updating buyers in the proper context. In other words, there is a capable touchpoint through every IoT connection or interaction. These touchpoints, in turn, help to advertise items by approaching customers at the perfect time with just the perfect product while using locations and other critical factors. 

Talking about ads directly in a store, Beacons have already proven to be an effective method to sell more items and therefore increase revenue. Beacons are tiny transmitters that are capable of transmitting signals to nearby Bluetooth-enabled smartphones and sending personalized real-time ads directly to a customer.

Queue-less checkout 

Don’t you want your customers to be tired of standing long in cashier lines? Make checkout easier, quicker, and more personalized thus providing your buyers with the highest level of comfort. IoT-powered sensors automatically detect barcodes, scan them and add the items to a customer’s virtual cart, so they can pay themselves in a matter of seconds via a mobile app on their smartphone when leaving the store. 

Hire robots

Wait, what? We’re not in a sci-fi movie, are we? In fact, robots have recently become a part of our reality. Of course, you don’t see them here and there…for now. But in some industries robots are widely applied and they are like common things there. Retailers have already started taking advantage of these technological assistants. There are sophisticated robots that can even engage with customers directly! We know it’s hard to believe, but still. These robots can talk and understand plain English questions and help customers find the section they need. 

However, robots can perform the basic functions of a sales consultant, the question “Are they better or at least not worse than human employees?” is still unanswered. 

The bottom line is

Whether you like it or not, advanced technology is increasingly getting involved in our daily life. IoT is one of the top technologies driving evolution when it comes to digital CX.  

Customers today expect services and product providers to be on top of their needs. And cutting-edge ​​technologies are an efficient means in terms of achieving this goal. Retailers can collect extremely valuable data about customers and use it not only to provide exceptional and personalized experiences but deliver these experiences at the right time. 

In competitive markets, implementing technology and advanced analytics is the gateway to growing a customer base and standing out. 

Personalization is a process that must constantly evolve as customer expectations tend to change from a modern digital perspective. 

We’ve mentioned a few key approaches to upgrading the customer experience, but there are more of them. Obviously, you cannot apply all of them so it’s essential to comprehend how to utilize IoT in the most efficient way for your business. Remember, that customers don’t see your internal processes – technology is invisible in many cases – but they expect changes and improvements anyway. 

We don’t know for sure what the future holds for us (but we’re excited to make guesses though). We only can make predictions and we believe the best is yet to come. IoT has all the chances to completely reshape businesses, organizations, and brands soon. One thing is certain – the latest IoT trends can upscale your business and make you a winner in the market.