There's an app for that. That's long been the joke amongst smartphone toting consumers. More and more, the same can be said for supply chain management and logistics tasks.
Research reveals vast age differences in U.S. consumers' attitudes toward mobile payments, with Generations Y and Z - often referred to as Millennials - twice as likely to view them as faster, easier or more efficient than other types of transactions. These younger consumers also show more confidence in the security of mobile payments - although Generations Y and X are actually more concerned than Baby Boomers about the possibility of a personal information breach via mobile payments.
A majority of U.S. shoppers, 60 percent, said they would be comfortable giving out personal information, anonymously, to their favorite stores in exchange for benefits and rewards. Another 56 percent would give out the same information to a product brand and 46 percent to a product app, according to a recent survey from Wearables.com and The Center for Generational Kinetics.
The Internet of Things has intelligence distributed throughout many integrated layers. Algorithms and analytics are needed to make sense of the raw data. Often this intelligence needs to reside on the edge of the network close to the source of the data near the "things" comprising the IoT.
In September, Macy's announced plans to roll out the largest beacon initiative in the retail industry with its partner, shopkick, a shopping app that awards users points for entering participating stores. The company is joining a host of retailers that have already made strides toward beacon technology, including Lord & Taylor and Hudson Bay.
Twenty percent of American adults already own a wearable device and the adoption rate - on par with tablets in 2012 - is quickly expected to rise, according to PwC's Consumer Intelligence Series-The Wearable Future report, an extensive U.S. research project that surveyed 1,000 consumers, wearable technology influencers and business executives, as well as monitored social media chatter, to explore the technology's impact on society and business.