Amazon Go: The future of retail?

You'll either find this fascinating or appalling. 

"What if we could weave the most advanced machine learning computer vision and AI into the very fabric of a store so you never have to wait in line? No lines. No checkouts. No registers."

Just a few days ago, Amazon coined the term "Just Walk Out Technology", which involves "computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion much like you'd find in self-driving cars"... and no, it's not the traditional method.

According to Wired, "retail tech specialists and computer vision experts agree that Amazon's advertised system is entirely plausible given the state of artificial intelligence, RFID, sensor and machine learning technologies today".

That could be a step in the right direction for the retail industry. But convenience alone is not enough; what consumers want is relevance.

The world of "Frequently bought together" cross-selling and upselling is becoming dated.Consumers want relevance: they want retailers to anticipate their desires instantly. 

In other words, customer-specific conversations win. Cisco identified 3 value propositions for hyper-relevance:  

? Efficiency: 77% favours checkout optimisation and digital signage resonated with 67%.

? Savings: 73% favoured receiving personalized discounts via AR.

? Engagement: 62% responded negatively to generic in-store entertainment.

'Constructioneering': Who will control construction data?

To paraphrase Chris Rezendes of INEX Advisors, "He who controls data will control that market, the customer, the regulators, the supply chain, and you." Obviously, the race is on to control the data. And it is a war for niches. 

Bentley Systems recently announced a partnership with Topcon Positioning Group to connect cloud services for "constructioneering". The goal? To process raw data into 3D reality meshes that allow engineering data to align with construction processes in the field. In other words, to control the construction industry's data. 

The IIoT enables us to create 'Digital Twins' of physical assets and environments. Yet despite its size - $10.2 trillion in 2020 - the construction industry is almost "all dark", with minimal visibility into real time status. The industry is conservative and inexperienced with IT. Companies are waiting to follow early movers. But Uber, Nest, and Amazon have shown that first movers have a good shot at disrupting and winning markets. So, do you plan to be a disruptor, or the disrupted?

IoT ONE has catalogued more than 80 construction industry IoT case studies (as well as more than 400 others) to help you stay ahead of the market.

Trump vs. the future

A couple of days ago on Twitter, President-elect Donald Trump called for the U.S. government to cancel a deal with Boeing to develop a new Air Force One due to the $4 billion budget. Cutting edge IoT technology was largely the culprit. Ok, even as an IIoT proponent I might have to agree with Trump on this one. 

But here's the thing: Industrial IoT has the potential to significantly lower costs in the aerospace industry. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is harnessing the Cloud to reduce costs and improve information sharing. 

Aerospace companies are also embracing new solutions. Airbus uses Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE to plan design, simulation, and manufacturing on a single platform. The goal? To reduce costs and lead times by harmonizing end-to-end installation processes.

Join us in accelerating adoption of the Industrial Internet of Things. If you're an IoT hardware, software, or service provider you can list your company for free and join the 1,400+ companies in the IoT ONE ecosystem.

Erik Walenza

@IotOneHQ | [email protected]

P.S. This is an excerpt from the IoT ONE newsletter. You can subscribe HERE.