IoT Now’s monthly mini-edition ‘On Trend’ focuses on the retail sector this month. The retail sector is generating more data than ever, the question is can that data be converted to actionable intelligence for the shop floors?
Retailers are under pressure to win shoppers back to physical stores, introduce unmanned formats and hand more operational decisions to AI. Each of those depends on a growing estate of connected devices from cameras and barcode scanners to smart shelves and temperature sensors. ABI Research expects global retail IoT connections to grow from 419 million in 2025 to 583 million in 2030. Grand View Research forecasts that the IoT in retail market will reach US$488.5 billion by 2033.
George Malim, managing editor of IoT Now, opens with a question: “In a world in which everything is a data point, is there a risk that retailers could drown in information?”
Inside the edition, a special market report brings together leaders from across the retail technology stack, to address the issue:
- Mark Duckworth, UK country manager at SOLUM, explains why the shelf edge is becoming central to store operations: “AI can make a sophisticated recommendation around pricing, inventory or promotions, but that recommendation only creates value if the retailer can translate it into action quickly and accurately in-store.”
- Stephen Tagg of Markem-Imaje explains why connected retail starts at the point of manufacture: “Without item-level identity created at the source, all the downstream smart retail, traceability and consumer engagement promises fall apart.”
- Lawrence Roycroft, vice president for EMEA at KIBO Commerce, discusses the rise of agentic commerce and the case for flexibility in AI model choice.
- Matt Sherwen, managing director of Sherwen Studios, shares findings from a survey of 2,000 UK shoppers on which connected experiences bring them back to stores.
The edition also includes an exclusive interview with Paul Bullock, group chief product officer at Wireless Logic. He explains why packet gateways are fundamental to IoT services for the retail sector and what enterprises should look for when they assess a provider’s network claims. “Consumer mobile is more like a broadband internet service but IoT needs different types of packets, different frequency of delivery and different charging models,” says Bullock.
Readers can share their views on retail IoT by leaving a voice note for George Malim to be featured on a future IoT Now podcast.The November 2026 edition of On Trend is available now at https://www.ontrend.iot-now.com/november-2026/.
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