Samsung will be entrusting its channel partners with its first round of Internet of Things products for 2017.
The company announced that all of new IoT solutions will have a retail focus and go through a two-tier distribution strategy involving distributors and a network of solution providers and retailers. Samsung also partnered with Samsung SDS and SapientRazorfish for its new line up of IoT products.
Samsung IoT product line for 2017 consists of Galaxy S7 edge and S7 active smartphones, Galaxy Tab S2 tablet, Gear S2 wearable, Samsung Pay, 75-inch and 85-inch displays with touch overlay, 55-inch mirror display, and solutions from Samsung SDS. The Samsung Nexshop Sales Mobility and Marketing and Training solutions are also part of the IoT line up.
According to Samsung, IoT can assist traditional brick-and-mortar retailers by delivering more personalized mobile-first customer shopping experiences. Samsung’s IoT solutions including mobile devices, digital signage, defense-grade Knox security and wireless infrastructure. All these new products will come with software and services from Samsung SDS and SapientRazorfish to demonstrate transformative digital experiences that bridge online and in-store shopping technologies.
Ted Brodheim, Vice President of Vertical Business at Samsung Electronics America, said physical retailers face new challenges in personalizing their connection to customers, as the digital benefits of shopping online re-define shopper expectations. In collaboration with Samsung SDS and SapientRazorfish, Samsung plans to delivering IoT-enabled retail solutions that merge the best of online and physical shopping for a highly-tailored shopping experience that delivers a 360-degree view of in-store operations.
Samsung is also incorporating big data analytics. In one instance, Samsung IoT technology can depict a customer journey inside an apparel store, blurring the lines between online and offline shopping, while synchronizing backend systems for an omni-channel shopping experience.
Recently Forrester Research reported in its Predictions 2017: In Digital Transformation, The Hard Work of Operational Excellence Begins paper, that in 2017 digital business professionals will accelerate work to break down the silos between Web, mobile app, and offline engagement, [and turn] IoT from a technology buzzword to a nascent revenue stream.
The digital journey has five areas:
- Store Entry: The shopper orders an item from home for pickup at the store using the store’s mobile app on their Samsung Galaxy smartphone. When the customer arrives, the store’s app triggers a beacon on a large digital signage display, showing personalized content based on prior purchases, and suggesting items that can be browsed via touch-screen. Simultaneously, a store associate is notified of the customer’s arrival via Gear S2 wearable, and visits the customer.
- Customer Interaction: If a shopper can’t find a product in the store, they can get assistance via the store app on their mobile device by pressing a ‘Help’ button on the app. The nearest associate receives an alert on their tablet, and through Samsung wireless triangulation, is able to locate the customer’s store location, and help them find the item in the store.
- Smart Merchandising: As the customer travels the store, they see a shoe merchandising display equipped with proximity sensing light bulbs and a beacon. It detects the visiting customer and lights up the shoe model of interest to them, triggered by the customer’s past shopping data from the store’s mobile app. The customer can take the shoe to a nearby station, detecting the shoe’s RFID tag and displaying more information on the product.
- Rapid Mobile Payment: At checkout, a store associate can scan the customer’s merchandise into a rugged Samsung smartphone, completing the transaction without a point of sale terminal by using NFC based C2B payment via mobile device. The customer and associate simply tap their Samsung smartphones using Samsung Pay to complete payment.Data Measurement: At day’s end, associates review daily sales statistics via smartphone, while managers can see marketing data on a large display (including people counter stats and heat map of store activity). Training tools can be pushed to associates’ tablets, providing real-time education for in-store employees.
