Retail Indoor Positioning Comes of Age at NRF 2017

January 17, 2017

We were at the NRF “Big Show” for a second straight year, demonstrating our latest advancements in Internet of Things technology through retail Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS). We were showing retailers how LED-based indoor positioning, beaconing, shopper pathing and data analytic capabilities can help them deliver a tailored, mobile-enabled omnichannel shopping experience.  Here’s just a few of the things LED-based IPS systems make happen:

  • Indoor positioning and navigation to take shoppers directly to any item they want and find them quickly if they need help
  • Shopper-optimized floor layouts based pathing data on where, when and how customers shop (e.g. dwell, traffic and app utilization)
  • Real-time promotions that can reach customers when they’re in the aisle
  • High definition store look and feel  with enhanced lighting quality

And beyond happy shoppers, LED-based IPS gives retailers a built-in funding model for deployment through the energy and maintenance savings from LED lighting fixtures. This year, we’ve added full-scale, smooth dimming, down to one percent, which allows for better tuning of light levels to further reduce energy usage and make code compliance easier.

Back in 2015, we introduced our first IPS offer that featured wirelessly controlled LED luminaires with two really cool communications technologies: Visible Light Communications (VLC) and Bluetooth® low energy (BLE). VLC uses digital LED light pulses to communicate with a smartphone via its optical sensor. BLE complements VLC by allowing the system to communicate with the device when it’s out of sight (in a purse or pocket.) Currently, our IPS technology is accurate at 10 centimeters for VLC and a meter with BLE. This level of precision is difficult to attain using other beacon technologies.

We’re excited to see IPS gaining momentum. To date, we have deployed our solution in nearly 40 million square feet of working retail space.  But we’re not standing still. 

Thanks to our partnerships with tech leaders like Microsoft (we use the Microsoft Azure cloud platform), we’re now offering a full-stack Platform-as-a-Service for indoor positioning, beaconing and shopper pathing, as well as robust data analytic capabilities.  Our aim is to deliver an affordable, scalable and secured IoT infrastructure to address multiple business needs.   

Want to know more? Click here.

Previous Article
Indoor Location Technology: Evolving Beyond Brick & Mortar
Indoor Location Technology: Evolving Beyond Brick & Mortar

It’s no secret that legacy companies across the globe are reinventing the way they do business to stay rele...

No More Articles