5G: A Retail Revolution?
With fast mobile broadband, low latency, edge computing and the Internet of Things about to become a reality thanks to 5G, what this mean for the retail sector?
Connected retailing
How retailers embrace 5G will depend on their current business models and the market sectors they are operating within. What is clear is that 5G will offer all retailers opportunities to innovate.
Cradlepoint’s Jason Wells concluded: “More speed and less latency will be a game changer for retailers. There will be a whole range of new options allowing them to add mobile wireless connectivity to build entirely new applications and to improve the customer experience. Many of these applications will create entirely new business models beyond our current thinking.
“Consider this – in 2006, before the birth of 4G LTE, how many of us had imagined Uber or Instagram? We are on the verge of a similar – and likely more revolutionary – jump in wireless technology applications. It’s not simply about faster connectivity speeds or lower latency – it’s the potential 5G offers for transporting intelligence.”
Retailers will be able to innovate across every aspect and component of their businesses as 5G becomes more widespread. Without bandwidth issues, next-generation retail experiences can be built safely in the knowledge that these experiences will be seamlessly delivered to their audiences over the 5G network.
It remains to be seen how retail will change when 5G becomes ubiquitous, but what is certain, is that retail with evolve to embrace the new technologies that only 5G can deliver.
