How Bluetooth ESL Standards Will Impact the Smart Retail Market

Industry News

Recently, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) commissioned ABI Research to investigate the market's demand for standardization of Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) and released a study titled "How Bluetooth ESL Standards Will Impact the Smart Retail Market." The report provides an in-depth analysis of the market's need for ESL standardization and the impact and future trends of Bluetooth ESL standards on the smart retail sector. [Image] There is a massive demand in the market for ESL standardization.

Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) have the potential to replace tens of billions of paper tags globally, representing a significant untapped market. According to forecasts by ABI Research, by the end of 2022, the total number of ESLs deployed globally will be 788 million. However, this figure represents just the tip of the iceberg when compared to the true potential of the ESL market. One primary reason for this discrepancy is the fragmented nature of the ESL market.

Additionally, some retailers are concerned about certain technologies becoming obsolete or anticipate better technologies emerging in the future, leading to reservations in adopting ESL and retail IoT technologies. Other barriers include the need to deploy a variety of infrastructures, concerns about interoperability, security and privacy issues, supporting long-term retail strategies, and the complexities of deployment and maintenance.

Clearly, ESL will play a foundational role in the digital transformation of future retail outlets, aiding retailers in enhancing customer engagement and experience, and increasing in-store automation and operational efficiency. In recent years, the revenue of many ESL manufacturers has reached historic highs. However, the success of large-scale smart retail deployment projects is increasingly reliant on interoperability between various use cases, as well as information gathering and sharing. Retailers will avoid isolated solutions that can't operate synergistically and will increasingly favor open modular platforms. This will position ESL as a part of the overarching smart retail wireless network, capable of consolidating and analyzing data from various use cases and devices, leading to more intelligent insights and services.

To achieve this goal and further accelerate the development of this market, major retailers require standardized ESL technology. This will better provide solutions that are easy to deploy, low-cost, energy-efficient, interoperable, highly secure, and future-oriented. These solutions can be sourced from multiple manufacturers and cater to a variety of use cases.

Bluetooth ESL Standard Will Profoundly Influence the Smart Retail Sector

The ESL standard released by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group will better meet retailers' needs, addressing their concerns, and unlocking the full potential of the ESL market. The Bluetooth ESL standard can assist retailers in realizing a grander vision for smart retail, driving their digital transformation strategies and enhancing operational efficiencies. While proprietary technologies from individual manufacturers dominate current deployments, the Bluetooth ESL standard will spearhead a new wave of adoption, providing interoperable smart retail solutions that tackle both front-end and back-end operational challenges.

The Bluetooth ESL standard will also assist retailers in creating a more open smart retail ecosystem, capable of yielding multiple returns on investment. This will lead to intensified competition, continuous feature innovation, product differentiation, and will bring about more product choices, reduced risks, and improved interoperability.

Thus, the introduction of the Bluetooth ESL standard will revolutionize the smart retail sector, facilitating new solution providers to enter the market, alleviating the concerns of retailers, and fostering the development of new ESL and smart retail services and platforms. This will better equip retailers to deal with the pressures they face now and over the next decade.

For more information, click to download the full market research report.

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