VDC Research: RFID, Barcode, Retail Automation & Self-Service Market Blog

Where RTLS will be in 2012

2008-2010 were challenging years for RTLS due to economic conditions, unmanaged expectations and the market’s lack of understanding of the solution and all its supporting technologies, its capabilities and its value propositions.  During this timeframe several companies closed down or left the market, budgets plateaued or contracted, and existing deployments saw limited scaling.  Not only did the economic environment create an additional barrier to adoption, but the end user community was becoming more familiar and comfortable with RTLS, yet still struggling to comprehend its value propositions.  Aside from a handful of innovators and early adopters, the end user community for RTLS was simply not ready yet.

The activity experienced in 2011 indicates that this market is beginning to grow in both green- and brown-field accounts … but not in every vertical.  More mature verticals such as Health Care, Government and Transportation/Logistics – accounts and markets that have been cultivated and nurtured for several years – now have a greater understanding of the solution’s value proposition and business models, have become more committed and are increasing investment.  However, adoption in other verticals such as Retail, Manufacturing and Commercial services remained limited or stagnant as the solution continues to be refined for these markets and value propositions and benchmarks are developed and proven.

VDC predicts that 2012, although anticipated to be challenged by continued global economic volatility, will be another year of growth and scale in the RTLS market – more so than 2011.  Trends to watch in 2012 include: broader adoption, convergence, analytics and deeper integration.  RTLS solutions will not only be used to track more objects assets, and people, they will also become more widely deployed throughout the enterprise and its value chains.  As it becomes more broadly deployed, RTLS solutions will increasingly converge with other technologies and systems (i.e., barcode, sensors) as a means to further extend the platform and provide greater visibility.  These systems will generate an unprecedented amount of “true real-time” data and will require advanced analytics and information distribution mechanism to ensure that this business intelligence becomes operational intelligence.  As the information becomes more operational and RTLS continues to be broadly deployed and converged throughout the enterprise and value chain, these systems will need to be deeply integrated in order to maximize value and potential.

All indicators are pointing toward a more prosperous 2012 for the RTLS industry, particularly for those companies that have weathered the storm, pressed ahead with market messaging and nurtured their installed base over the past few years.

The Truly Interactive Digital Signage Solution

Earlier this year, there was considerable interest generated around supermarket giant Tesco’s deployment of large screen billboards in a South Korean subway station. These featured displays designed to look like supermarket shelves, allowing consumers to purchase products online with their smartphones by scanning corresponding QR codes. This further exemplified how the balance-of-power has been shifting from the retailer to the consumer, as businesses increasingly look to take the shopping experience to wherever the consumer may be, as opposed to drawing them toward distinct ‘choke points’ – both online and in the traditional ‘brick-and-mortar’ stores.

What has prompted us to write about this technology deployment in December then? Well, Toys'R'Us is in the news this week for having enabled a virtual QR code store, quite like Tesco in S. Korea, in subway transit stations and airports in the New York metro area – in time for the holiday season. We think it is highly refreshing to see early adoption of this nascent solution here in the US. And it definitely makes more sense to have successful online retailers choose to go this route. The primary question with such a deployment, however, is how organizations expect to continually use and update the content on such displays. Do these warrant ‘permanent’ as opposed to seasonal installations? 

VDC has been extensively covering the global markets for Interactive Displays and Digital Signage, and we have consistently emphasized the need for converging mobile device solutions with digital signage displays in order to extend the reach and value offered by these installations. Interactivity, such as that afforded by these Toys’R’Us displays, is expected to elevate the levels of customer engagement & experience, leading to a favorable ROI. As end-users experience returns that justify investment in this next-generation solution, leading vendors expect to derive significant revenues from sales of digital signage solutions into the Retail vertical – growing at a robust CAGR of 17.6% from 2010-2015, as evidenced in VDC’s recently published report on the Digital Signage space.

We have closed out our 2011 coverage of the markets for Customer Engagement Technologies. Click here to download complimentary research and insights from the same.

Hot Topic Webinar with GS1: Scanning Ahead - AutoID in 2012

Despite current economic conditions and the continued volatility expected in many global economies in 2012, next year is shaping up to be another year of growth for the Auto Identification (AutoID) industry. 

During this GS1 US Hot Topic webinar, VDC will present information, insights and trends to watch for in the Barcode and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) markets in 2012, including leading & emerging Electronic Product Code (EPC)-enabled RFID applications.  Near Field Communication (NFC) and Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) markets will also be covered.  Specifically, this webinar will highlight four primary trends that VDC anticipates will be important in 2012:

• The impact of technology convergence (AutoID technologies integrating with and complimenting each other)
• The increasingly important role of GS1 and EPCglobal Standards
• The affect consumer devices will have on the AIDC Markets
• The changing role of the software & service provider

Join us for this informative webinar to learn more about the exciting and dynamic changes occurring in AutoID!

    WHEN:   Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
                 Time: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET

Click here to register.