IoT is transforming the industry with numerous benefits. And we are sure that it can do more with it. But how? That is the main question. And what are the benefits of IoT? Generally, IoT has so many benefits over several things but focusing on our main subject is shopping malls.
In shopping malls, IoT could be helpful in to do efficient store management, monitoring of stock, and tracking. Not only Internet of Things can improve your store security and also it can prevent your business from the loss. What more do you expect.
IoT has expanded and improved consumer experience and with its reduced cost of it, it can grow from the value of $9 billion to a huge amount of $30 million by 2024. There are some ways in which IoT is already in use by retailers and other stores, and how IoT has been transforming the industry.
Benefits of Using IoT
Smart Stores
Advantages of Smart Stores
In smart stores, there is a thing called Heat Map and with the help of Heat Map, a customer can find the desired product in the store. Without even coming to the store.
Managers can eliminate empty spaces, record shopping trends inside the mall, insight into products.
Smart Shelves
Smart shelf might sound fictional to you! But it is not anymore. A smart shelf is a real thing that is equipped with RFID. Yes, Yes, I know that you have no idea what is RFID. Let me tell you for once that RFID is a Radio Frequency Identification in IoT. It can be on the shelf or behind or under or above the normal shelf.
So, you can transform your shelf with this technology, but how it is useful to you?
Do you want to know how well you can do the research in your system? About Items?
Well RFID Reader can give you that data in a minute. RFID data is transformed into an IoT system and there it has been read, analyzed, and transformed into the customer preference.
There are more benefits such as Digital Signage, Self-checkout kiosks, and Geotargeted SMS Campaign. Well, these all things are the parts of IoT. Now you must be thinking that how will you be able to build this kind of application.
How To Build An IoT Application?
Choose a Platform
When choosing a platform for IoT Applications look for the technologies they provide and the ost they are asking for. Here are some platforms where you can build your IoT Application.
- HomeKit
- Android Things
- Xively
- Thing Worx
- IBM Watson
There are some issues with it right now, with the allowance of IoT developers to connect with different vendors when it comes to speaking with them with different protocols. But IoT is still growing and we are sure that it will come the greatest.
Choosing the Hardware
The second task you will do is to choose the hardware. So what kind of qualities does your hardware have to have when it comes to choosing the hardware. Hmm! Specifically for IoT.
- Hardware must be correspondent to your product
- Hardware must be reliable to your product needs
To add more to this, you choose the sensor makers who are reliable in the market.
What Is Your Scalibiltiy in the IoT Market?
At what pace your plan for IoT will go to develop your application’s functionality. If your application is going to stay relevant to the scalability which identically is essential for a shopping mall then you will have to manage the data of several different types of devices.
This can be complicated as it sounds, so it is advisable that you use cloud technology for this.
Take Care About the Speed
You are building a controlling device like a smart shelf, from their customers will be able to see the items that are available on the shelf with the help of IoT, you are building a smart store where customers will be able to do self-checkouts.
In these cases, if your technology is not working properly then customers might choose to get to another store, and this way you will lose the customer.
How Will You Provide the Security?
There are several aspects that you must care about when it comes to securing your IoT platform of yours and that too with securing others’ privacy.
Choice of Hardware Vendors
- Use only proven IoT Platforms (You may use one from the above-mentioned list)
- Not only network attacks are done, but there are also physical attacks too. Consider them also.
- Always use protected networks
- Secure your applications
Conclusion
This is all about building an IoT application. It is essential that you know why you should build an application like this, how it can be helpful to you, and what are the drawbacks of it as of now. I presume that IoT is growing and it has already the idea of upgrading its security and all stuff, but as of now, you will have to follow this guide to improve your security. And not to mention This article will provide you the step by step guidance on how to build an IoT application for your shopping mall?
