Retail IoT Applications 7th Edition

Retail IoT Applications 7th Edition

Retail IoT Applications is the seventh consecutive report from BergInsight that gives first-hand insights into the adoption of wirelessconnectivity in the vending, parking, ticketing, ATM, digital signageand POS terminal markets. This strategic research report from BergInsight provides you with 275 pages of unique business intelligenceincluding 5-year industry forecasts and expert commentary on whichto base your business decisions.

Retail IoT Applications 7th Edition

The retail industry is an important vertical for cellular IoT connectivity with 147.9 million cellularconnections today and a total addressable market size of over 372 million POS terminals, ATMs,vending machines, parking meters, digital signs and fare collection devices worldwide. BergInsight forecasts that the number of cellular IoT connections in the retail industry will grow at acompound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.0 percent to reach 217.7 million connectionsworldwide in 2028. Shipments of cellular IoT devices will at the same time increase at a CAGR of6.2 percent from 57.9 million units in 2023 to 78.2 million units in 2028. Cellular IoT technologyenables devices such as POS terminals and ATMs to be used at new locations where fixed lineconnectivity is unavailable or impractical. The technology has a more transformational effect onmarkets such as vending and parking, where machine operators need to reorganise theiroperations in order to benefit from the availability of real-time information.

The installed base of connected vending machines in North America reached 2.3 million units atthe end of 2023, whereas the corresponding figure for EU27+3 was 1.8 million units. The NorthAmerican market has reached a state of maturity with a penetration rate of over 71.2 percent.Europe is meanwhile still in an early stage with a penetration rate of around 42.5 percent.However, vending is also one of the fastest-growing segments for connectivity solutions in theretail industry, driven by demand for cashless payment and vending telemetry solutions. TheNorth American market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.4 percent between 2023 and 2028,reaching 2.8 million connected vending machines at the end of the period. Similarly, theEuropean market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 10.9 percent to reach 3.0 millionconnections by 2028.

The parking industry has been one of the earliest adopters of IoT communications technology.Today, approximately 67 percent of the world’s 652,000 multi-space meters are connectedprimarily to cellular networks. This penetration rate will continue to increase steadily throughoutthe foreseeable future, as nearly all new multi-space meter deployments have connectivity as arequirement. In contrast, connectivity has only recently become an optional feature in single-space meters and today only 16 percent of the single-space meters in the world are connected.However, connected single-space meters have recently had a breakthrough in the NorthAmerican market, where mixed deployments that comprise both single-space and multi-spacemeters are becoming increasingly common. The share of single-space meters that incorporateconnectivity is now growing rapidly and expected to reach 32 percent by 2028.

Cellular connectivity has become a very popular option for POS terminals and was incorporatedin 52 percent of the devices shipped in 2023. Wireless technology has an important role infacilitating the global adoption of electronic payments, as it enables the rollout of POS terminalsto many new market segments as well as regions where the fixed line telecommunicationsinfrastructure is less developed. Berg Insight forecasts that the installed base of cellular POSterminals will grow at a CAGR of 7.8 percent between 2023 and 2028 to reach 200.3 million unitsat the end of the period, driven especially by growth in emerging markets.

Digital signage solutions have found their way into nearly every possible vertical market and awide variety of application areas. The untapped market potential is nevertheless still vast andgrowth is showing no signs of slowing down. Berg Insight forecasts that global shipments ofdisplay screens for digital signage will grow from 21.2 million units in 2023 at a CAGR of 11.6percent to reach 36.6 million units by 2028. Cellular connectivity is very useful for applicationssuch as temporary signs and in locations where access to fixed line communications is notavailable or costly to obtain. However, cellular is expected to remain a niche connectivitytechnology due to the higher costs associated with the technology, especially in bandwidth-intensive applications.

Cellular connectivity is incorporated in close to 0.3 million fare collection devices worldwidetoday, such as on-board ticket vending machines, stationary vending machines and handheldticket sales terminals. Berg Insight anticipates that the market potential for cellular connectivityin public transport will expand as account-based fare collection systems gain ground andincrease the need for real-time communications. However, the number of fare-collection devicesincorporating cellular connectivity is likely to remain relatively modest, as many fare collectiondevices can share a communications line with other equipment.