There have been so many technological innovations around us, and no company can afford to stay aloof when a company plans to use IoT in its devices, it’s better to implement learning solutions for employees to learn the usage.

These learning solutions can be developed with the help of creators of IoT devices who can create video tutorials about the same and even live demos.

Only such people know how the wrong use of such devices can cause any problem.

In the retail industry, technology has made real progress. No, there is the Internet of things in this industry to facilitate the shopping experience for customers. Hence the companies have to provide their employees with learning solutions to use this technology.

Need for IoT devices

• Better customer experience: When there is so much intense competition in the retail market, the business owners have to prep up to deal with it.

Faster shopping is the need of the hour when customers don’t have time to shop in person due to hectic corporate lifestyles. They can pick up products through driveways once the store informs them of their availability due to IoT(Internet of things) sensors. All such online shopping apps work through such IoT technology only when customers place orders, and a store clerk checks through the app whether the product is there or not. The customer does not have to call any store owner to check the product’s availability, and he gets notifications on his mobile app.

The biggest benefit of the Internet of things is that it helps customers expedite checkouts, and no human cashier is required. They can easily use such technology through UPI-based payment apps which calculate and receive their bill. This saves the need for them to stand in the long queues to make payments. The products have sensors through which all the items customers pick up in the store aisles are added to their virtual cart in the IoT-based UPI app. Once they leave the store, they pay for the products purchased through the app.

Since the retail stores have tie-ups with such IoT-based UPI apps, they get data about the product purchased by a customer and can create a consumer profile based on this information.

• Easier store management: The use of IoT-based sensors has also eased working for the employees because they can track the product validity through them. Once they have kept all such information in a database through IoT sensors, they are automatically reminded when the product is expired through notifications on mobile apps.

Moreover, the retail store staff doesn’t need to check the shelves manually every time to check the product’s availability. They are sent notifications through the IoT app when a product is finished.

The IoT-enabled devices automatically inform the business owner when maintenance is due.

For example, when a new product is scanned, all its information is stored, and store conditions are assessed to determine whether the product needs a certain temperature for storage. When a refrigerator has an IoT sensor in a retail store, it can easily let the store manager know when the temperature can fluctuate due to equipment failure leading to product damage. Hence preventive maintenance is ensured to eradicate any possibilities of such damage. The power fluctuations can also cause temperature changes informed to the owners on time through IoT sensors, which are integrated with mobile apps.

How do such devices work?

The active RFID tags enabled with such IoT sensors care are helping businesses capture so much useful about the product. When businesses are shipping products to their customers, they can trace the speed of a vehicle through such sensors so that the customers can be informed about delivery. The weather conditions on the way are also relayed to make the business know whether any delay might be helpful to escape any accidents. So, businesses can make sure that the products don’t get damaged during delivery to them or customers.

When companies have all the information about the customers, they can provide personalized experiences to customers. For example, when companies have sold such IoT devices to customers, they get a lot of information about them. For example, how such an IoT enables the customer to use the device is known to the company. For example, if a customer experiences frequent power outages and a device does not suit him, he can be suggested a more power-friendly option.

Why is there a need for learning solutions for IoT?

All kinds of employees have to be given learning solutions to deal with IoT. Such learning solutions can empower them to deal with such technology. Well, companies should ensure that employees are digitally literate before hiring them. It’s better to train existing employees rather than replace them with new staff when a company is thinking of using IoT. It’s essential that the existing staff is trained in such technology because they understand the working of the organization and the context in which such technology is employed.

The employees must have a learning solution for them because IoT collects many sensitive data. Once such software is accessed, a lot of critical information gets into the wrong hands. Hence they should be taught how to change passwords on software like mobile apps. All the employees can’t be given mobile phones containing IoT-based apps.

There should also be a secure network when such software is accessed. They should not be accessed through public Wi-Fi. Since all the customer profiles are stored in such software, any data breach can cause massive business losses.

Also, there is a case of data corruption in such software. So, employees must have proper learning materials about accessing the database in such software.

There should also be a device management strategy under which only certain employees should be allowed access to such devices where such software has been installed. Everybody also can’t access cameras and refrigerators that have IoT enabled because they can cause damage.

Hence learning solutions must inform employees about how to handle such devices properly.