Comm. Smart Cities and IoT supplement Smart Cities and IoT | Page 8

Regional developments
R e ta i l

Retailer spending
on IoT to grow
significantly in
the Middle East
According to a recent IDC study looking at
four key markets (Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE), spending on IoT
solutions among retailers will grow by an
average of around 19 per cent annually for
the foreseeable future, representing nearly
US$1.6 billion in spending from 2014 through
2018. While this growth is a bit slower than
for IoT across all industries in MEA, it is a little ahead of global trends, where overall IoT
spending is soaring by an average of around
17 per cent per year.
Despite the visibility of the signs, the great
majority of IoT projects will relate to in-store
promotions and personalised promotions
as well as ad-hoc improvements to supply
chains, in-store inventory systems, and
transportation or delivery systems. This
stems from a need for basic infrastructure
and process optimisation. Retailers are also
seeking online and mobile sales channels
and customer relationship initiatives, all
steps on the path towards the creation of
true omni-channel shopping.

R e ta i l

Dubai-based IoT
online store
launched
Cyber Gear, an Internet company based in
Dubai launched the first IoT smart products
online store in the Middle East.
IoT online store (http://www.IoTOnlineStore.com) offers smart products in the following domains: home automation, wearables, smart gadgets, healthcare, trackers,
toys and pets.
IoTOnlineStore.com also offers smart
solutions for retail and e-commerce.
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