The Road to Connectivity: Meeting Digital-First Demands Head On

Like most retailers, you probably have been thinking about how to improve business agility — but what does that entail? As the line between physical and digital retail experiences continues to blur, connection is more critical than ever. In fact, today's consumers are pushing for better engagement at every level. Leading companies are leveraging technology to match the pace of these evolving demands through a next-gen connectivity strategy. In this transcript of RIS’s latest webinar, IDC’s Paul Hughes joins RIS’s Jamie Grill-Goodman to gain a deeper understanding of the top challenges in managing the growth of data, transforming at scale, key investment considerations and building a 5G enterprise environment. Read on to learn how these companies are meeting the connectivity needs of their customers head-on. Jamie Goodman: Good afternoon and welcome to the “Hello, Disruption: Meeting the Future of Retail Head On” webinar, which is hosted by RIS and presented in partnership with Cradlepoint. I'm Jamie Goodman, editor-in-chief of RIS News, thank you for joining us today. Like most retailers, you've likely been thinking about how to improve business agility, but what does that entail? As businesses adapt to the growing demands of a hyper-connected digital-first world, they cannot be truly agile without a next-gen connectivity strategy. Today, we will explore the rapid change of retail and how evolving connectivity requirements are pushing retailers to facilitate greater business agility. We'll cover how today's consumers are driving demand for greater connectivity and resiliency, the top challenges in managing the growth of data and how your business can scale to keep critical data in motion, top investment priorities, as well as take a look at how 5G is going to change connectivity practices. To explore how evolving connectivity requirements are pushing retailers to improve systems and strategies, we are joined by Robin Manke-Cassidy of Cradlepoint and Paul Hughes of IDC. Robin and Paul, thank you for joining us, may you please take a moment to introduce yourselves and describe your role in your respective companies? Robin Manke-Cassidy: Hi, I’m Robin Manke-Cassidy, director of solution marketing at Cradlepoint. For 21 years I was on your side of the IT aisle, working from data centers all the way through networking. I'm excited to be here and talk about retail. Paul Hughes: Hello, my name is Paul Hughes. I am the research director for an IDC Research program called “Future of Connectedness.” IDC is a technology market research and consulting firm focused specifically on looking at trends, challenges, and forecasts for a variety of technologies across the entire technology space. My focus is on looking at the future of connectivity and the impact that it has on the way enterprises are evolving in this post-pandemic world. I’m looking forward to sharing some of our core data that came from recent surveys and talk a little bit about how the retail segment is evolving as a result of the impact on connectivity that we're seeing. Goodman: It's great to have you both with us. Many of the topics that will be discussed were covered in RIS's “2022 Store Experience Study: Moving Beyond the Chaos.” Let’s begin by talking about strategies that retailers are prioritizing to become increasingly digital and connected, and the role connectivity plays in the retail experience. Paul, what role does connectivity play with the retailer and the retail experience today, and what is the end goal for both employers and customers? Hughes: When we look specifically at the way retailers are using connectivity today, one of the critical things to remember is that virtually every critical system we see within the retailer is now connected to the network. The importance of keeping all those critical systems running and operational becomes a critical part of any business as they're trying to maintain that level of resiliency. As you see, the survey data presented here is an annual survey done every summer, which looks at a lot of the critical challenges around connectivity – challenges, business priorities, investment expectations, and some of the core business outcomes that organizations are looking for. You can see that, not surprisingly, the importance of improving business resiliency has become a critical component because of the importance of keeping those critical systems running. Virtually every application within a retailer, whether it be your point-of-sale system, inventory system, payment systems – they’re all connected to the network, making sure that no matter what event happens, business can stay resilient and on, and all the systems stay connected. That's what helps keep the business going. What we also see, however, is the importance of both keeping employees connected as well as keeping the workers productive and having the right applications available to make their jobs easier, giving easier access to product data and to customer data. Any kind of interaction that's taking place, those interactions are taking place with an outcome of trying to drive either greater revenue or keep customers happier. That also aligns with the data points on customer experience. Particularly now in retail, where we think about the convergence of the physical and the digital retail experience, the importance of all the data that gets generated in each one of those transactions – whether it be in the physical store or online – making sure that data gets used effectively to ensure the customer gets the experience they're looking for remains one of the most critical priorities. With any investment that organizations are going to make, you're going to see that all these key factors are going to be critical in driving those must-have technologies forward. Goodman: Robin, what would you say are the must-have technologies for retailers? Manke-Cassidy: It’s really about how to keep the salespeople engaged, selling, and on top of the inventory, but it's also about the user experience. Retail used to be a brick-and-mortar that everyone went to, and that's not always true anymore. The technologies that companies are trying to implement help them be agile and more engaging with customers and employees. It's things like – being up on inventory. A storefront now isn't just a place where people come in, buy stuff and walk away – it's also where they ship from or come and pick up from remotely. How do you make those user experiences as fluid as possible and up-to-date? The payment systems are always at the top of everyone's retail list because that's the first place a customer's going to touch you; making that as easy and as quick as possible. You can tell which retailers have upgraded systems recently and those that have not. A lot of them have the touch show – you can touch your credit card and walk away – others haven't progressed there yet, and you can tell the difference. The other thing is the customer experience. Customers now expect to have Wi-Fi in the store. They expect to have, in clothing shops, a more interactive view of how the clothes are going to look on them and other things like that. I have a love-hate relationship with QR codes. In restaurants, having the QR codes and those types of things are what customers are looking for, so that they don't have to interact with a lot of things or touch anymore. They have everything they want in their hands. Goodman: How would you say the technologies we talked about map to the revenue streams we're seeing? Manke-Cassidy: It directly relates to it. I had mentioned inventory. If you look at the chart here, store purchases are still more than 50% of how people buy – most people still want to go into a store. I don't know about you guys, but I still want to go try the clothes on before I buy it. I'm not so much into, "Let's hope what shipped fits." A lot of people still go to the stores, still want to interact with the merchandise before they buy it. However, as we can see, ship from store, store delivery, and online buying, those numbers are increasing and a couple of years ago when we did this survey, those numbers were much smaller. You can see how the environment impacts the way people want to consume. This directly relates to purchasing and also directly relates to the employee interactions and inventory. Inventory is more important than ever – you don't want a bunch of inventory that you're not selling on your shelves. You want what employees and customers are consuming at your fingertips. It's interesting to see how that shift is happening, but brick-and-mortar, popup stores, or physical locations people can go to are still the number one way people purchase. Goodman: I would definitely agree. I've been trying to shop for a dress for a wedding, and I keep saying, “I need to go to the store. I can't do this online.” Manke-Cassidy: Exactly. You can't feel it or see what it looks like on you. There are technologies that are coming down the pipeline for that, but they're just not there yet. Hughes: Even so, it's not quite the same as the real thing. Goodman: They're getting there, but we are definitely on our way. Now, let’s turn to what the term “connectedness” means. Paul, tell me about this data that we're seeing from the IDC study. You use the word "connectedness.” Can you elaborate on this and what it means for the retail employee, as well as the consumers they're serving? Hughes: “Connectedness” is a term that IDC has coined as we've been looking at the impact. It’s the importance of how data becomes a critical component of any enterprise, and retail is no different. The whole concept of connectedness focuses on the importance of keeping data moving across the enterprise. Think of this as being always on – secure access no matter where an employee is, helping to ensure that business continuity is a priority, but also allows those organizations to deliver the pervasive digital experience that we now expect when we go into a store. In those kinds of interactions, that data is being used in real-time to provide real-time insights, real-time decisions for the employee or for the customer, based on that data. For retailers, the primary opinion of connectedness is that real focus around digital interactions from anywhere. You go into a retail store and are looking for a specific product – a sweater or a shirt – you have a specific size. The employee follows you around with a handheld device that gives them immediate access to see if your size is available, or a different color is available. This gives them the ability to, no matter where they are in the store (at the cash register or the front), to provide that data to the end customer. Not surprisingly, if you're a retailer, it's being able to take advantage of that connectivity and deliver those digital interactions. Below that, we also see using the data for an impactful use – making the right decisions for the customer. That's something, particularly in retail, where we think about this being such a priority because when we think about the collision of the physical and digital retail experience coming together, it's the data that's going to help keep those engagements positive, effective, and profitable. If you're delivering the right engagement, you're more likely to see customers purchase products, come back into the store, and continue to purchase those products. The last point, at 13.2%, is the ease of engagement. That is where retailers are making it easier for employees to interact with customers in the store, but also making it easier for customers to interact digitally from home, where they may want to make a purchase at home and then can pick it up in-store. They’re making that engagement as easy as possible. These become critical components that will become more and more pervasive across the retail segment as we continue to see this focus around managing data, improving network performance, and leveraging network performance to bring greater benefit to the organization as well. Manke-Cassidy: That's interesting what you're saying, Paul. Each one of those has a networking component to it, an agility level to it. You don’t want a bunch of wires running through the store to get this data and information. It's something that they need in their hands and ready all the time. Hughes: It complements another point from one of our “FutureScape” reports, where we think about this move towards wireless-first. We predicted that by 2024, more than 60% of organizations in retail will be focusing specifically on moving all their operations to a wireless-first approach, to untether operations and give them the flexibility that allows them to do all of these critical things, such as managing the customer relationship and interacting with the customer, no matter where they are. Manke-Cassidy: One of the things we have found is that the Cradlepoint customer base isn’t tied to that brick-and-mortar anymore. They're trying to get closer to where customers are, they have popup locations. Why should they pay rent that goes up regularly in the same location if they can easily pick up operations, move across the street and save money? That's what organizations are looking for. Goodman: Paul, we're in such an interesting time with uncertainty in supply chain and inflation. Yet retailers are returning to normal, such as it is. Your data shows connectivity programs are a priority. What is this telling us? Hughes: What it shows is this: the importance of connectivity has become an essential part of the business. It's not recession-proof, but it's certainly one of the most recession-resistant, or inflation-resistant, aspects of the business. Now, we are so accustomed to having connectivity as being an essential part of the business. As it becomes more [essential] and we interact more digitally, we continue to purchase more goods online – as I mentioned, the collision of the physical and digital coming together – we're seeing the data volumes keep growing. As a result, it becomes almost impossible for the retailers to put any of their connectivity priorities aside. With data volumes growing, what we also find – both from a retail perspective in the data compared to hospitality or manufacturing – the priority remains significant. With data volumes growing, we're also seeing the impact of the network demands keep increasing. What this is doing, with all the data flows and data growth, is increasing demands for bandwidth at the store and greater levels of access for the customers. What we're finding is that even in these interesting times with supply chain and so forth, organizations are not slowing investment in 5G, rather they’re looking at SD-WAN as an opportunity to drive operational efficiency. The wireless-first, the wireless-WAN approach, and other related networking technologies give the ability to truly deliver on that experience. Connectivity is here to stay and it's only going to grow in importance as those interactions become more complex. Robin mentioned the impact of AR and VR as becoming part of the retail experience, the demands on the network are only going to increase. Goodman: Let's dive into wireless-WAN a bit more. It's a fundamental technology used in most organizations now but Robin, how can we build on that? Manke-Cassidy: At Cradlepoint, we like to call it a 5G enterprise environment. It's not just about cellular anymore. Cellular is a key component of it – we believe in that, that's why we exist – but it's bringing all the new technologies together. How do we optimize those for efficiency, for cost effectiveness, for better productivity, as well as profitability of organizations? A couple of technologies that are key, and tie-in directly with what Paul said about the data, is SD-WAN. As you have more of these applications that are key to both customers and staff, you need to be able to prioritize those. When you have a 5G environment that (potentially) has multiple modems and connections into the network, being able to throttle those, prioritize the different applications, because you want to make sure that the POS system is going through first and maybe the augmented reality (AR) or customer Wi-Fi isn't as important. You want transactions to go through faster. The other thing is, with all the data – everything from inventory to the number of people who walked in, to the security cameras that you have – being able to process that data closer to where you're getting the data is important. Applications that are moving to a micro-services type environment and offloading some of that processing at the edge of the network is huge. Being able to do real-time transactions, and things like that, plays in. The other thing about inventory is the modernization of inventory. It used to be that someone would go and count how many shirts, how many pants, etc., but organizations are leveraging RFID tags on these now, which allows the system to manage inventory and take care of it more easily. That way, the staff takes care of customers and doesn’t worry about what inventory is on the shelf. A lot of fulfillment, especially when doing more shipping from the store, as well as people coming up and grabbing it outside the store – those technologies are going to be important. Finally, geo-services. This is figuring out where customers are going, what location they're going to, but also where fulfillment centers are. Is the inventory on its way here or is it going to a different store? Getting all your logistics from where a customer walks out of your store with an item, back to the warehouse, where it is on the shelves, and where it is in transport. Those types of technologies are going to be important to keep you modernized. Goodman: Being able to locate if the item is in store for pickup, or wherever, this needs to be correct because this is where retail is going. If your store can’t handle that, it's going to start to separate the leaders from everyone else. Manke-Cassidy: It used to be that if you went into the store and asked for a specific color or size, they would go to the back and search through all the inventory to see if they had it. Now, they need to have that at their fingertips to know if they have it exactly where it is, or if they don’t, that it can be shipped here tomorrow because it’s in the warehouse. That interaction needs to happen in the store without long distances or conversations to get that information. Goodman: Turning to connectivity challenges. Paul, from your data, the road to connectivity is not that simple. Can you share with us, from your observations, what are some challenges that retailers need to be aware of? Hughes: Not surprisingly, if you ask any organization what one of the top connectivity challenges is around – whether it's network, IT, in the data center, etc., – security is always going to be number one. It's important to remember that as much as that remains a top issue, one of the critical things in retail is that you always want to make sure you're keeping corporate and customer data secure, including payment data. We think about the impacts of all those data breaches where customer privacy has been impacted. Having the right infrastructure in place to deliver that level of security, that can guarantee security and privacy for the customers and employees, is very critical. Step down from network security, and the next top challenge focuses specifically on that next step of where the retailer is going. How do retail organizations incorporate new technologies across the organization? How are they using Wi-Fi, 5G, SD-WAN, cloud? And how does using those impact the business? How is each of them integrated together? Then, how are they going to extract the maximum value out of each one of those technologies? That's something that, as these core processes become more refined, it’s important for organizations to be able to think about the implementation costs and investment costs of these technologies, and the new level of performance it will bring to the organization. The impact of the growth of data, the growth of all kinds of digital interactions, retail organizations simply can't put off investment in a lot of these new technologies because they need to be able to support these new applications. Their employees are going to expect to be able to stay connected no matter where they are. The customers expect Wi-Fi in the store, and they expect to have a digital experience either using a handset or a dedicated device in the store. It’s bringing a lot of these critical components into the equation. Addressing these challenges becomes one of the big priorities going forward over the next couple of years. Manke-Cassidy: Paul, you can see that the network infrastructure you have, it doesn't matter what applications you have, what services you have. If you don't have that agility and freedom in your infrastructure, that's going to come back to bite you. Goodman: For the many retailers that are at a stage now where they're looking to improve operations, what are some critical aspects they need to move from one stage to the next? Hughes: This data puts a stake in the ground for where most retail organizations are in this journey towards what we call connectivity maturity. Think of it as moving from where connectivity is a simple component of the business, to where it becomes extensively used to drive smart interactions and using a much greater level of capability around open data models and data sharing to deliver the right kind of real-time business decisions. If they're looking to move from one stage to the next, compared to some of the other vertical markets, retail is more mature than life sciences or other areas. That’s a compliment to retail organizations realizing the benefit. What's important is, as organizations, how they need to get to that next stage. First and foremost, assess the current connectivity capabilities you have and align them to the preferred roadmap as an organization. Think about both the combination of being a physical and digital retailer. It's also important to think about how to best standardize around one or more connectivity technologies to best benefit the organization from a customer interaction perspective, an inventory perspective, interacting with the supply chain and partners. What are the critical resources going to be that are going to best benefit the organization? It’s important to start to prioritize the critical business actions and technologies that are going to help make a lot of those activities more resilient and seamless. We talk about reactive and proactive functions here. A retail process is about actions, the interaction with the customer and the employee, the transaction (the purchasing), and then the reaction after that purchase. Is the customer happy with what they've got? Is this something where they feel satisfied and they're going to return to the store? Is it going to benefit the retailer as a whole? With all of these coming together, it's important for a retail organization, as they're putting all this together and planning, to also prioritize the outcome for the customer. We all know that’s Rule #1, the customer is always right. Rule #2, if the customer is ever wrong, refer to rule number one. It's always important as you're making those investments to improve that state of connectivity and put the customer first. Goodman: Today we’ve talked a lot about how the in-store experience is going to remain important, even with this digital melding of experiences. Robin, how does having the right technology in place help retailers match the digital experience to the physical experience so they're getting both? Manke-Cassidy: What's great about the technologies that retail is embracing is that those are the same technologies, whether you're interacting with the organization digitally or coming into the store. There are some nuances, naturally, if you come into the store. But it's the same point-of-sale system, contactless payment, store servers, mobile devices and the applications that they need to interact with the customers. In the survey we did with retailers, it was interesting to see how many have already updated their point-of-sale system. They already know that's a key point; however, the point-of-sale, the traditional hardware and the contactless payment came out as three separate line items. Most organizations are currently up-to-date and in-use but are looking to go the next step. As we start moving credit cards to having PINs and things like that, it'll be interesting to see how these point-of-sale systems change to modify that. Not only do the salespeople need these mobile devices, but so do the managers to be able to do more high-end inventorying, etc. aside from what the sales associates can do. It's fun to look at the applications that the organizations are looking to update. The one I, personally, find interesting – which is at the bottom of the list – is shelf labels. If you're thinking about RFID, that's attached to the item itself or the shelf. They can easily see when an item is being removed or not, but it is still pretty low on the technology maturity flow. Not a lot of organizations have adopted it and not many are looking to upgrade or do major changes to it over the next 12-24 months. That’s a technology that organizations are going to want to invest in and that's a technology that requires you to have the right networking environment to make it work effectively. It'll be interesting to see how these technologies shift over the next year. What do you think, Paul? Hughes: What's interesting is, not surprisingly, it aligns with a lot of what I mentioned before, this move towards wireless-first. All these critical store technologies that we see here, the majority of them are going to have to have some level of mobility tied to them. Having a network in place that can support the volume of transactions is critical to support the new levels of creativity that a retailer might want to bring into the store. Electronic shelf labels are a good example. Similarly, I recently had a retail experience where I took all the clothes I was going to purchase, threw them into a bin, and it automatically calculated the cost of everything. Then, I was able to pay with a contactless card. Think about the impact, how all these critical components have to work together but are also driving the importance of retail organizations to think about: what role is the wireless network going to play for them internally? How can they make sure that the network is scalable and resilient as more and more of these devices and capabilities come online? Manke-Cassidy: I completely agree. The next 2-3 years in retail are going to be very interesting. Goodman: Paul, I've tried the bin ring-up technology and it's certainly a game changer, it's so great. Hughes: It is. Frankly, it's shocking the first time you use it. Manke-Cassidy: Absolutely, because you’re not waiting for each item to be rung. Hughes: The first time you do it, it's shocking because you look at how everything ends up in that bin and you’re wondering how in the world is this all calculated. It's remarkable technology. The level of efficiency it increases in the store to get customers to the payment process as well. Goodman: As IDC looks to the future, what are some predictions in that vein that you see as far as connectivity is concerned? Hughes: IDC does a variety of what we call “FutureScape” reports every year. We look at the Top 10 Predictions in a number of different areas. My focus is on connectivity. As I mentioned earlier, one of our top predictions is that 60% of retailers will adopt wireless-first by 2024. When we think of moving the power of the network and the power of all of the transaction management closer to the actual store itself, we're watching the impact of how organizations are using the edge and how edge computing is becoming one of the ways for organizations to manage this explosion of data. Retail is certainly no exception here. We also predict that 90% of the top 2,000 retailers will start using edge computing because of the explosion of data in-store, from all of these devices and interactions, to drive better workforce productivity. It's also going to help increase the customer experience and reduce costs. As we look toward the future of retail and the impact the network is having – the connected shelves, the number of IoT devices, and the number of 5G-enabled mobile devices – within the retail environment will continue to increase to help improve the retail experience. What it's also showing is digital engagement, the importance of keeping connectivity seamless between fixed and wireless infrastructure to make sure that the services and everything is continuous. No matter where an employer or customer is in the store, they must have that continuity of service, especially at the checkout with a lot of the self-service digital options, where you're helping to facilitate the customer engagement, improving the customer experience, and using this multi-channel commerce strategy as a way to provide much richer digital engagement options. Think about the benefits of edge computing, bringing lower latency, and faster computing power. This is not something that can be taken on lightly. Looking forward, it's going to be important for organizations to think about building and working with the right technology partners and integrators to help ensure that. As they look to adopt edge and harness the power of data – they want to have that integrated storefront, all these digital options – who are the companies that can help guide them in building out the right network infrastructure, the design, implementation? Then, of course, managing it as it changes over time. There's a lot that is going to happen as we start seeing more and more connected devices in the stores, faster networks, and the importance of making sure all of this works effectively as retailers think about where that roadmap is going to take them. Manke-Cassidy: The network and the edge computer are two areas that I'm most interested in watching over the next several years. Being able to transact and limit the data that you send back to the cloud – sending all your stuff to the cloud is great, but it's not cheap, you pay for all of that. If it doesn't need to hit the cloud, even better. For example, security cameras. You might be recording it in a different location that is cheaper, or if you want to know about a security incident, you leverage AI to determine if something looks suspicious. Then, you give that to the agent in the store to act upon, as opposed to going back to the cloud, having someone call them, and then they go do it. It's situations like that where AI and edge computing are going to make a big difference. Goodman: Paul, looking forward, what is IDC data showing as far as what areas retailers should invest in over the next 12 months? Hughes: To get an understanding of what some of the top investment areas were for connectivity we asked this in the survey. Looking at the top three: network-as-a-service, 5G and Wi-Fi 6, what you see is that retailers view these next-gen connectivity capabilities as a key component to driving the overall business agility strategy. When I think about business agility, it's about making the right investments to stay competitive in what is becoming a more and more hyper-competitive market. Take into account the technology benefits that are going to help you, where if you have the ability to scale network operations in a cost-effective way, it offers the ability to take critical business functions that you can use to stay competitive and utilize them as a way to improve your overall business performance. Let’s look at network-as-a-service. You have the ability to leverage a virtual network and have the ability to scale on demand, based on the needs of the business. Obviously, 5G network devices and applications. We're at the point now where 5G is becoming more prolific across every vertical industry. Retail is no exception. The benefits you see from the potential of gigabit bandwidth down to the device level, and having that bandwidth in the store, is going to give the business the ability to have greater performance. Similarly, Wi-Fi 6 and its hardware and software, guarantee that and use that as a complimentary technology to 5G to guarantee performance, whether it be in a static retail location. The 5G network becomes a great option for a popup store or remote location. Using those as critical aspects to continue this move towards becoming not just more resilient, but also more effective in the way you do business. Again, the data is showing that even in this time of inflation and supply chain issues, connectivity is not going anywhere. The importance of continuing to invest in next-gen connectivity is what's going to help retailers continue to stay competitive and ahead of the curve even as we look over the next 12-24 months. Manke-Cassidy: It's the network and who manages it. Network-as-a-service is a key thing. A managed service provider, offering networks to get consistency between different locations is key. It's not only for big guys, but also little guys and everyone in between. I had a conversation with a customer in Chicago who was opening a new Crumbl's Cookie store. It was getting close to opening time, and he thought it wouldn’t take long to get a network – at home, they come, pull a cable, life is good. However, for retail, it's not that easy. If you haven't been around it, you don't understand what it takes. His opening was going to be delayed three months just to have someone come and figure out how to put a network in, then another 2-3 months for them to execute it. He looked at alternatives and found 5G and Cradlepoint, which was able to get his business up and running, on time, on his schedule. In doing that, he also learned he can go to festivals and events and bring his network with him. He doesn’t have to change his POS system or how he does business – whether in his brick-and-mortar or not – he can manage it one way. It’s the simplicity that organizations are looking for. It's like water – they need a network connection; not like we can live without it – how do I make that water consistent for me and easy to use? It's a great time for retail right now. Goodman: Definitely exciting. How can retailers leverage the benefits of 5G and wireless WAN? What are the top use cases you are seeing? Hughes: In looking out at the retail segment, the real focus has been around self-service and interactive shopping capabilities. A great example is what Kroger is doing in its grocery stores. They have a program called Edge, which is focused on providing dedicated devices in the store that allow the shoppers to find products more quickly in the store, find similar products to what they're looking for and get an understanding of what price points are to make the right buying decisions. That interactive retail is something that is only going to become more impactful as we see the benefits of higher bandwidth coming from the network itself. The one benefit I would add is the impact of real-time inventory updates. When a customer comes looking for a specific product, they have the ability to know that the product is available and can also be recommended other similar products that might be of interest to them based on past shopping experiences. It's probably a scary vision to think of, but if you remember the movie “Minority Report,” where Tom Cruise walks into the mall and it says, "Good morning, Mr. So-and-So," and they recommend specific products. We're not quite there yet, but those are the high-value recommendations and use cases that, over time, we're going to start to see become more impactful. Manke-Cassidy: It's the interactions with the customers and all of the different technologies that enable that. Then, the inventory because it’s a yin and a yang. You need the right inventory for the right customers that are coming in. Those two technologies and 5G wireless LAN actually help organizations keep track of both of those quite easily. Goodman: A lot of our research shows that people are looking for very personalized personalization. They're also willing to share their data to get that and that's one of the few places where they are interested in sharing because they are craving that personalization. Where do you recommend a retailer starts on the path to delivering an effective digital customer journey? Manke-Cassidy: As an organization who needs that, look at your priorities for the next 12 months. You need to figure out what those technologies are that you're most interested in getting down on the table and into the stores themselves. Then, you need to look at whether you have the network that's set up, effective, and has the right failover? In a retail organization, the hours your store is open, you need to have that connectivity that time. It's taking and making sure that the network you're setting up is set and built for where you want to take your organization. Hughes: From my perspective, as you're going down this path, is the importance of beginning with what I would consider a connectivity assessment. Get an understanding of where the organization is, analyze where data bottlenecks are. What are the processes that are slowing down because of those data bottlenecks that are in place? Then, how can you address those bottlenecks or remove them? Use that as a way to bring in greater levels of flexibility into your organization. I'm a big believer that this is not something that any retail organization should take on lightly. It requires the right partner that understands the retail business, what the actual connectivity roadmap looks like. This ensures that you can keep critical data in motion, and makes sure that as you are looking at all those processes, what are the ones that aren't helping you do that? Working with the right technology partner should be priority number one in making sure that you're future proofing your network for the coming years, without question. Manke-Cassidy: It's the partners and the products that you choose, as well as how they interact and work together that's going to make or break your solutions. Goodman: How does a retailer measure the success of a digital transformation or connectivity program? Manke-Cassidy: Happy customers. It's kind of like, "Happy wife, happy life" – Happy customers, happy life. Hughes: That's priority one, no question. If you've got happy customers and improved the customer experience, you've most likely also helped your employees do their job better. The outcome is better if your employees are happier. If you start seeing those critical internal business processes that you're doing, if they take less time, then you know that the investments that you're making are being successful. Manke-Cassidy: It's ultimately the bottom line. It's ultimately happy customers, happy employees. It comes out in your profits. That’s the bare bottom. Goodman: Absolutely. I want to thank our speakers, our attendees and our sponsor, Cradlepoint, today. I hope you all gleaned some insights here and everyone has a lovely rest of your day. Thank you for joining us.

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