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taken off the shelves, as well as replacing stolen using 40 per cent – 9.1 billion – of all of the
or damaged products. Customer payment systems deployed inter-connected devices, with the Chapter 3
can be tied-in automatically, signalling the need highest-spending industry sectors being
to re-stock whenever sales reach a trigger point. manufacturing, transportation and warehousing,
Managers can monitor customer flows within each and information . Another analysis predicted
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store, allowing changes in store layout. that by 2020 there will be 2.1 billion machine-
to-machine device connections, with two-
Manufacturers can embed sensors throughout thirds of these in utilities industries, one-fifth in
their production processes, enabling much more security applications, and smaller numbers in the
precise control and enhancing both efficiency automotive and transport sectors, healthcare,
and quality, while significantly lowering waste, government, retail and financial services.
energy use, the risk of accidents and product Applications will spread from developed to
damage . Similar techniques can be used through emerging economies, from limited commercial
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the whole lifecycle of equipment, vehicles, and markets to a broad spread of consumer
the built environment, allowing for just-in-time applications .
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repairs that minimize downtime and repair costs.
And farmers can use IoT systems to monitor soil
and crop conditions, precisely adjusting planting 3.3.2 Consumer applications
and pesticide use to maximize yields and minimize
environmental impacts, while enabling better food Many of the IoT applications coming online now
traceability . have direct consumer impacts. For example,
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shoppers can take advantage of RFID tags, using
Businesses likely will continue to be the smart phones to access online information about
biggest users of IoT technologies. One analysis products from the manufacturer or the retailer,
estimated that by 2019, enterprises will be or from independent reviewers and even friends,

Figure 3.3: Machine-to-machine (M2M) services

Source: Beecham Research.

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