Retailers are optimizing and streamlining their wireless communications networks to connect with shoppers and empower their store associates
Retail has long been challenged with keeping pace with technology solutions that become mainstream for consumers and other industries. Some may point toward the complexity of storewide systems, while others identify organization and budget restraints. However, now more than ever, advanced technology has become business critical for retailers as they aim to deliver great customer experiences, optimize their work forces and coordinate their supply chains.

The backbone of this advanced technology is an efficient network. Today’s retail networks need to be complemented with forward-looking enhancements that result in a more adaptable, reliable and flexible wireless system. With the rapid pace of technology change and the increased number of requests from their business customers, technology professionals in the retail industry often struggle to identify which solutions they need to prepare for over the next 3-5 years. They’re also searching for the technology that will meet the advanced requirements for leveraging their wireless networks for maximum benefit.
This paper outlines the key trends shaping the unique needs and demands of the wireless environment in retail today. It also highlights six key strategies for establishing a successful wireless network. A thorough understanding of both is critical for driving compelling experiences for the connected shopper.

Connecting with Shoppers
As a retailer today, you’re in the midst of a technological revolution that is transforming the business of selling products and goods. The new retailing model—the connected shopper’s ability to shop online and in-store often with the assistance of a smart device—is largely based on technology; specifically, wireless technology. But as important as it is to connect with mobile shoppers, today’s most successful retailers understand that connectivity is not an end in itself.
They know that just as important is the networks’ ability to help collect and analyze customer information to assist retailers in proactively personalizing the sales experience. In a way, we’re coming full circle. Personalized retailing is making a comeback, and it’s bringing a revitalized sales floor back with it. It’s all made possible and profitable by the wireless networks that both enable retailers to connect with shoppers and provide information about them and their desires. By making the sales floor shopping experience more informative, more individually focused, more convenient and more interesting, wireless technology is shaping and driving a bold new era in an age-old retail tradition: personal selling.