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Indoor location in the retail industry

Here's an excerpt from a great article in Retail Customer Experience, looking at Meridian's indoor location solution and what it means for the retail industry in particular:

According to mobile strategist and analyst Bruce Krulwich of Grizzly Analytics, the tracking feature of Meridian's system is the key benefit to retailers.  "What they [Meridian] give more than any others is that all of the information about where people are moving is stored in the cloud," Krulwich said. "For retailers to know the dwell time as people walk around the store, this is data that retailers find attractive. It helps retailers know how many people are standing around thinking about what to buy." ...
The article also discussed the balance between mass-market systems like Google Indoor Maps and dedicated systems built on technology from start-up companies in the space:
 "I think that within 2-to-3 years we will see indoor mapping and location services as big as outdoor is now," he said. "All major mobile companies are working on this. But they are looking at mass market, not the retail side of it. They are not quite as accurate as ones tied into the retail experience. Even if Google comes up with [a map and position inside a store], there is still room for more retail-oriented companies to bring more accuracy."

See the full article (here) for more on the impact of indoor location on retail.

To learn more about indoor location technologies and services, click here for  Grizzly Analytics' comprehensive coverage of indoor location technologies, including research by all the major mobile companies, along with almost 40 start-ups in the area.


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