GISCafe Voice Susan Smith
Susan Smith has worked as an editor and writer in the technology industry for over 16 years. As an editor she has been responsible for the launch of a number of technology trade publications, both in print and online. Currently, Susan is the Editor of GISCafe and AECCafe, as well as those sites’ … More » Push for indoor location technologies in 2014April 16th, 2014 by Susan Smith
In the latest edition of ABI Research’s quarterly Market Data “Location Technologies”, it looks like 2014 could be a breakout year for indoor location technologies in retail environments. Early adopters are shifting from trials to full-scale deployments of the technology, as they are entering the end of the three-year adoption cycle. Low-cost BLE/iBeacons and Wi-Fi solutions are creating a wave of second generation start-ups to fuel new growth and use cases across all major verticals. This activity is estimated to result in over 30,000 indoor location installations in 2014. Major grocery and pharmacy chains are really moving towards this technology, and adoption and resulting revenues for all indoor location technologies are available across 11 major verticals. In fast food, for example, a small percentage of improvement in queue lengths can translate to a savings of millions of dollars. Many chain stores are doing trials of the technology just to see if indoor location is right for them. VP and Practice director Dominique Bonte said that the BLE beacons and Wi-Fi will activate adoption in 2014 which will also remove many CAPEX barriers. In addition, the new location technologies are threatening the traditional RTLS market. Many hospitals and corporate/enterprise customers are assessing BLE to see if it will meet their requirements. These findings are part of ABI Research’s Location Technologies Market Research. Tags: ABI Research, geospatial, GIS, indoor location technologies, location, maps Categories: Big Data, cloud, indoor location technology, LBS, location based services |