Kerlink and Chilean company Clickie are deploying a LoRa-based smart-store system for Oxxo, Latin America’s largest convenience store chain.

French IoT firm Kerlink and Clickie, which provides real-time monitoring and management of electricity consumption, are deploying LoRaWan technology in more than two-dozen stores in Chile owned by Oxxo.

Clickie’s system, which can be deployed with no disruption to store operations, can reduce store energy consumption by up to a fifth, reduce the annual CO₂ production by more than 240,000kg, and increase useful lifetime of in-store equipment by 25 per cent.

Oxxo, part of Grupo Femsa, has nearly 20,000 convenience stores in five Latin American countries.

Clickie’s system combines LoRaWan technology, management tools and economic-behaviour theory to monitor businesses’ critical operational variables in real time and deliver timely information capable of optimising the way resources, such as electricity, are used.

Kerlink offers industrial-grade network equipment and management software. In these Chilean smart-store deployments, it is delivering its Wirnet iFemtoCell or iFemtoCell-evolution, its indoor carrier-grade gateways, along with the Wanesy management centre, its complete, modular product that runs, monitors and manages entire IoT networks.

“Our system enables complete monitoring of structure heating, cooling and lighting, as well as of refrigeration equipment in the stores, and it gives managers full control on their operation, including remote management,” said Nicolás Llévenes, Clickie’s chief commercial officer. “Clickie chose to partner with Kerlink for these deployments because of its record of providing reliable-and-robust indoor gateways which, combined with the Wanesy management centre, offers our customers future-proof local IoT networks.”

Josic Thepaut, Kerlink sales manager for the Americas, added: “Kerlink’s smart-store solutions are being used in countless businesses, stores and shops around the world because they allow shop owners and managers to control assets and energy use, cut costs and reduce their carbon footprints. These deployments in Chile with Clickie also prove that smart-store solutions can be quickly and easily implemented, with no disruption of day-to-day business operations.”

Continuous monitoring of energy usage allows detection of critical points of consumption and key management opportunities:

• Scheduled operating hours: Equipment or appliances that record energy consumption during the store’s closing hours can be programmed to shut down automatically, thus reducing unnecessary usage and extending their useful lives.
• Out-of-range alarms: Alarms that trigger when excessive consumption is detected identify when and where consumption peaks occur. This facilitates management of energy demand.
• Automation: Clickie’s automation service gives store managers control of their devices from the platform, such as the possibility of managing room temperature remotely.

Oxxo manages to maintain an optimal room temperature in all its stores, thanks to the temperature management tools connected to the platform. Clickie provides control of air conditioning units, to adjust modes and temperature level automatically and remotely based on user comfort parameters.

Using the platform, the air conditioning is programmed to turn on half an hour before and turn off half an hour after the store’s business hours. It also allows the creation of custom schedules to turn on air conditioning on certain days and automate operating hours.

Based in France, with subsidiaries in the USA, Singapore, India and Japan, Kerlink is a co-founder and board member of the LoRa Alliance and the uCIFI Alliance.

Clickie combines IoT technology, management tools and theory of economic behaviour to provide commercial businesses, including retail stores, with real-time monitoring of critical operational variables. It uses this information and data to help owners and managers optimise the way resources, such as electricity and equipment, are used. The company’s headquarters are in Las Condes, Santiago, Chile.