Page - 42 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

the physical world to real-time data through smartphones, tablets, drones and robots. It has been applied in industries like health care,manufacturing, retail, and transportation and logistics (Butcher 2017; Sawers 2018; Scandit 2019; Science Business 2013). In terms of creative solutions, Scandit provides many opportunities for retail stores on how to upgrade their retail processes. In the past, before Scandit’s solu- tions were offered, retail stores used various devices to scan barcodes that were unnecessary and costly being abottleneck for the supply chain fromwarehouses to consumers. Due to the economies of scale, personal smart devices have faster innovation and better performance. First, these personal smart devices can be used insteadof thebarcode scanningdevices. It allows theconsumer to explore, buyand re-order products anywhere and at any time. Second, it allows the consumer to receivemore in-storeproduct information,haveavirtual shoppingbagand thenpay with a click option. Finally, it will allow the consumer to receive personalised discounts. The software offered by Scandit supports thework of in-store employees, as it allows them to scan barcodes as well as IDs without the need for limited and expensive hardware. Furthermore, it allows the employees to show stock, delivery dates and price verificationwith a short scan, thereby drastically reducing human error. In the warehouse, it assists employees in receiving detailed inventoryman- agement, shipping and receiving dates and the ability to verify stock in amatter of seconds (Scandit 2019). For Scandit, the IoT software creates newopportunities and creativity, and four of theseopportunities arementionedbelow.First, through the IoTsoftware,Scandit and its clients, likeCoop,Switzerland’s largestwholesale companywithmore than 2300salesoutlets inSwitzerland (Coop2020), canmonitor thebuyingbehaviourof consumers.Thisdata canbeuseful for companiesandcreatenewopportunities.For instance, Scandit could monitor the buying behaviour of consumers and create personal discounts. Such data can be further used for designing creativemarketing campaigns. These discounts will increase consumer satisfaction and most likely lead to higher client loyalty, thereby increasing sales. Seasonal discounts and combinational discounts could attract consumers to buy more products. Combi- national discounts could, for example, allow the consumer to buy ameal that is on sale, instead of just one product. Furthermore, the IoT software could use the data fromconsumers tomake their life easierwhile highlighting the creative side of the company. When a consumer scans a product, the software could produce many recipes that contain that product. This would allow the consumer to pick recipes within seconds that consist ofproducts at that store.Second, the IoTsoftware could allow theconsumer tobuy theproduct it needs for certaindiets. For example,when a consumer has a specific medical diet restriction, the IoT could create a pop-up when that product is scanned.This is applicable formedical restrictions or allergies but also for food plans. If a consumerwould prefer to live a healthy life, only eat veganmealsor prefer biological products, the IoTwould supply the consumerwith a creative list ofmeals and available products to order, either online or at the store. In addition, the IoT software could evenknowwhat the consumer has in the fridge Unleashing the Creativity of Entrepreneurswith Digital… 43