The number of cellular IoT connections in the retail industry reached 72.4 million worldwide in 2019, according to a new research report from Berg Insight.
Cellular IoT technology enables devices such as POS terminals, ATMs, digital signs and ticketing machines to be used at new locations where fixed line connectivity is unavailable or impractical.
Berg Insight forecasts that the number of cellular IoT connections in the global retail industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent during the next five years to reach 116.6 million connections in 2024.
Shipments of cellular IoT devices for retail applications will increase at a CAGR of 6.1 percent from 31.6 million units in 2019 to 42.4 million units in 2024.
POS terminals constitute the largest device segment and accounted for 91 percent of all cellular IoT connections in the retail industry at the end of 2019. The market for wirelessly connected POS terminals is relatively mature, and most of the market growth is driven by the increasing use of electronic payments in emerging markets.
“The multi-space parking meter segment was one of the first vertical markets to embrace cellular IoT connectivity and has today reached the highest connectivity penetration of 60 percent,” said Johan Fagerberg, principal analyst, Berg Insight.
Berg Insight expects that the vending machine segment will present a major opportunity for wireless connectivity in the long term.
Today only 4.2 million of the world’s 15.0 million vending machines are online. Vending machine will be connected, but costs for the wireless IoT hardware and subscriptions still need to come down further before this vision becomes reality.
The global IT spending in the retail market is forecast to grow by 4.9 percent in 2019 to $227.1 billion in constant U.S. dollars. Consulting and managed services are the growth areas given the requirement to build and deploy digitalization strategy profitably, Gartner forecasts.
IT companies targeting the retail industry market include Oracle, Informatica, Microsoft, SAP, VMware, MicroStrategy, JDA Software, IBM, Cisco Systems, LS Retail, Salesforce.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and Epicor Software.
