Summary

The retail industry is going through some monumental changes made possible by the accumulation of vast amounts of new data and some new sources of streaming data such as RFID and video. New devices will emerge that allow for better fit and function of a wide range of items. A prevalent theme in the retail world to come will be personalization and customization, made possible by massive data collection and correlation. Wireless backbones will exist throughout stores and our homes and will provide the necessary conduit for joining those data sources together. RFID tags on products will provide both the retailer and the customer new levels of inventory tracking. Video will surely be one of the thickest streams of data and will be used in new ways to analyze our behaviors to a level never before possible. Video, merchandise tags, and other data sources will ultimately save significant costs in shrinkage and result in cheaper, more efficient purchases for all of us. The blending of these new pervasive sources enables new levels of information, and that information in turn gives retailers efficiency, knowledge, and new loyalty enablers for their customers.