Israeli firm Nexite has updated its connected retail platform as it aims to turn physical stores into live digital experiences that drive profitability, efficiency and brand loyalty.

The company’s data platform is for real-time in-store intelligence and seamless retail shopping. The updates include improved software and hardware platforms, upgrades to connected merchandise, expanded features in connected operations, and more offerings for connected stores. They include:

• EAS secure mobile scan-and-go self-checkout, enabling retailers to implement secure mobile self checkout into their branded apps.
• Frontline staff task management to automate store staff inventory and stock management tasks, and offer live store heat maps with real-time product find.
• Improved performance and cost reductions to connected merchandise option.
• Improvements to inventory management processes with automation, real-time inventory accuracy and availability, and in-app gap investigation.
• Real-time anti-theft measures for more effective loss prevention, which includes overhead readers with enhanced AoA (angle of arrival) technology for location tracking accuracy, and EAS-anti-theft capabilities.

The features span across integrations such as mobile self checkout that lets shoppers skip the hassle of checkout queues and staff task management that gives retailers detailed, real-time visibility into stock count on the item level across the chain.

These updates can improve store efficiency, as well as providing inventory management that goes beyond RFID’s current abilities, cost reduction, increased localisation, and better understanding of how shoppers are interacting with merchandise at the local store level. It also addresses the challenges around retail employee retention through its ability to empower shop assistants with the automated tools they need to eliminate tedious, manual tasks.

“Retailers today have visibility and data in bits and pieces across their channels and operations,” said Anat Shakedd, CEO of Nexite. “With Nexite, retailers have an enterprise-wide picture of what’s happening with their merchandise in real time to increase margins and prevent shrinkage. While RFID has been extremely beneficial to inventory management, we wanted to take it a step further by connecting the retail organisation through digitisation, data and AI-led options for better connection with each other and, most of all, their customers. By better understanding your customers’ behaviour, you’ll be able to remove the friction in the customer experience and see greater profitability due to stronger brand loyalty.”

Retailers are facing more problems due to rising inventory and labour costs, lack of understanding into store performance on a store-by-store level, and an unfulfilling shopper experience resulting from limited visibility into inventory. This has placed more importance on retail technology that tackles these daily pain points and helps brands maintain and grow the success of their business.

These updates, which are all rooted in Nexite’s NanoBT, are taking in-store retail tech and visibility into in-store customer behaviour to new heights by helping retailers create a reimagined retail experience that is digitally connected from the stitches of a merchandise item to a purchase made by a satisfied shopper.

The connected retail platform delivers real-time in-store sales intelligence aligned to shopper behaviour analytics. It comprises battery-free, long-range communication technology that provides a continuous stream of data, automatically and in real time.