Introduction

The power balance has shifted in retail sector globally. The power lies in the hands of the

buyer rather than the seller now. Consumers dictate when, what, how and where they wish

to shop.

This is undeniably a threat to the traditional brick-and-mortar retail model. But, this shift

offers tremendous opportunities to the forward-thinking sellers who understand these

consequences and seek for technologies like IoT solutions.

Internet of Things, or IoT can not only help in reducing costs and protecting profit margins

but can also help in business growth, adding services to the product profile, and enhancing

their customer’s buying experiences.

So what is IoT?

IoT is a change in the predictable pathways the information used to travel from in the

physical world. When objects get the ability to sense the environment and

communicate, they will become a means for information transfer and sharing globally.

IoT will enable us to connect any device, person or object, to the Internet or/and to

each other. This connection will be managed through on and off switch that can

enable us to control the communication through them.

It will have implications, on privacy and data security. But, it also presents the biggest

opportunity to the retail industry.

IoT in Apparel Retail

With IoT connecting individual items via a digital thread, products and sellers will be able to

communicate directly with the customers, with customized communication that is based on

the customer’s needs and concerns.

There are multiple benefits that IoT can offer to retailers, which can act as a competitive

differentiator for them:

1. Till date, wearable technology in the fashion realm has been more or less focused on the

gimmicky features. With IoT, more relevant applications to wearable technology or digital

wardrobes could be made.

2. Apart from improving the post sales experience for the customers, IoT also presents the

retailers with opportunities to improve the customer’s buying process.

IoT in Apparel Retail

3. Another benefit that IoT offers retailers is loss prevention and fraud identification. Around 5 to 7%

goods or world trade are counterfeit products. Brands invest a lot of time and money into

counteracting this fraud. IoT will enable brands to efficiently track and identify such goods and

prevent fraudulent sales under their brand name.

4. Lastly, data gathered from individual products that can be situated anywhere in the world, the

IoT technology will provide a crystal clear image of the stocks that can help brands to optimize

their inventory and automate replenishment in a very simple and accurate way based on the actual

customer needs and not just on the retailer ’s orders.

Conclusion

IoT development and integration into apparel retail is still in its early stages. In a recent

survey, Industry Week highlighted that 40% respondents of their survey believed that this is

the right time to invest in IoT technology. IoT technology also should not be limited to the

areas of strategic developments or data collection but it should be regarded for an overall

IT readiness for apparel supply chains.

For more insight on this topic, visit

www.stitchdiary.com