Tagged with 'retail industry'

We are back with Volume 2 of our Retail Roundup: The Cisco Store’s Merchandise and Tech Digest!  

From staff picks and our trendy Summer in Paris Collection, to Cisco-sponsored fan favorites and the colorful Hatch Designed line, Volume 2 brings you a curated style guide with something for everyone.  

Fresh off the success of Cisco Live in Las Vegas this past June, the Cisco Store Tech Lab presents the newest innovations in the retail technology space. Take a tour of the Tech Lab, experience the show from a first-time visitor’s point-of-view, and check out how attendees customized their own merchandise using Webex Connect.  

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All past volumes are available on our Cisco Store Tech Lab SharePoint page (note: log in via SSO). 

Be sure to keep up with our upcoming volumes to get your hands on the latest Cisco gear and stay ahead of trends in retail technology. Subscribe to our mailing list at  merchandise.cisco.com.

The Cisco Store Tech Lab is open for customer tours during CXC visits. Account managers can schedule with us today, and customers can reach out to our team to take a tour.

Want to demonstrate your own technology at the Tech Lab? We’re always on the lookout for new partners: reach out today!   

The Cisco Store leverages Cisco and Cisco partner technology to power its retail environment. Most recently, we expanded our usage of Webex Connect to power an engaging customer experience at Cisco Live Americas in Las Vegas this past June.

Webex Connect, an enterprise-grade Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), enhances shopping experiences by enabling customers to resolve issues swiftly through seamless interactions. With Webex Connect, you can integrate or develop responsive chatbots, crafting a user-friendly and unique shopping experience that simultaneously frees employees to handle more complex inquiries.

At Cisco Live in Las Vegas this past June, the Cisco Store took the unique capabilities of Webex Connect to another level. Customers had the chance to take a piece of the event home with them by personalizing their new Cisco merchandise with Cisco Live patches.

The customization process was quick, easy, and accessible from attendees’ mobile phones. By scanning a QR code, attendees could initiate a conversation using Apple Messages for Business or Google Business Messages to choose their Cisco merchandise and indicate exactly which patch(es) they wanted and where they wanted them placed. Shoppers would then receive their order numbers and an estimated wait time via text after they dropped off their items at the Patching Station.

On the back end, the Patching Station staff would immediately receive the order details via Webex Connect and could mark order statuses and update wait times. Shoppers could even watch their orders being created at the station! Once their items were finished, shoppers would receive a text alert for pick-up.

By building this seamless customer journey with Webex Connect, attendees were able to experience forward-thinking retail technology in action and receive a keepsake to commemorate their time at Cisco Live. The Cisco Store strives to create these unique moments for customers to demonstrate the power of Cisco’s technology integrations in retail.

Curious to see the Patching Station in action? Check it out on the Cisco Store Tech Lab YouTube channel now!

Interested in demonstrating your technology? Please reach out to set up an activation with us!

If you would like to bring your customers through the Cisco Store Tech Lab as a stop on your CXC Tour, you can also schedule your visit now – we’ll have the Tech Lab personalized just for you!

You can also learn more about Webex Connect via the retail solutions page or by connecting with an expert now.

The Cisco Store at Cisco Live was grander than ever this year – we're talking a giant leap to 7,500 square feet of eye-catching technology and merchandise. A real crowd magnet, the store hosted over half of the 23,000 attendees at the whole show. 519 lucky people snagged a spot on one of our 26 Cisco Store Tech Lab tours to learn how we power a real retail environment with Cisco and partner technology. Plus, retail proved to be very much alive and well: merchandise sales were up 34% from last year, showing that the love for the Cisco brand is stronger than ever.

The technology stack behind our Cisco Live Amsterdam store went on a global adventure, landing in Las Vegas to energize the Cisco Store there. We ran the whole show on a full Meraki stack, featuring the latest gear like the MS130 switches, access points, nifty sensors, handy buttons, and even power monitoring sensors. Plus, we teamed up again with some stellar partners like EVERYANGLE, VusionGroup, CAE Labs, Wipro VisionEDGE, Webex Connect, and more to amp up the experience. 

Visitors were especially wowed by VusionGroup’s Captana, which alerts staff when items are out of stock as well as checks for merchandise planogram compliance.  

EVERYANGLE also turned heads with its in-store conversion rate generation for our brick-and-mortar spaces. Attendees got the inside scoop by touring with the pros who run the Cisco Store, getting a firsthand look at how we make retail magic happen.

Like Amsterdam, we also deployed 15 Meraki MT40 smart power controllers throughout the store to baseline our power consumption during the show with the help of CAE Labs’ WiserWatts platform. We plan to schedule our power at both of next year’s shows to compare our energy and cost savings: after baselining and scheduling power at our San Jose store, we have reduced our energy consumption by 66%, helping us fulfill our core principle of sustainability.

Can’t wait to see it for yourself? Check out our Cisco Store Tech Lab Tour video to dive into the action from wherever you are!

Along the way, tour attendees could experience how the Cisco Store powers an inclusive future for all: our donation tower was once again set up at the entrance of the store. Every token dropped into the tower represented a $1 donation to organizations such as Green Our Planet, Wine to Water, and Replate, totaling up to $1,207 by the end of the show.  

The Cisco Store unveiled an array of new merchandise, thoughtfully crafted by Cisco’s internal creative agency, The Hatch, presenting the brand in an innovative and sophisticated manner. In light of the robust partnership between Cisco and McLaren, and with the notable presence of McLaren CEO Zak Brown and racing driver Oscar Piastri participating in the keynote Q&A, the store introduced a new line of Cisco | McLaren products. These items, aligning with the partnership’s prominence in the Cisco Showcase, were met with overwhelming demand (nearly selling out), underscoring the partnership’s resonance with not only Cisco but also with our customers and partners.  

Following the fervor of the first day’s keynote, the Cisco Store launched a limited-edition Cisco | McLaren hoodie, which was met with such enthusiasm that it sold out on the same day. 

Concurrently, AI was a prevalent theme at the event, with Cisco’s AI hub being a focal point on the show floor and the campaign video being featured prominently in the keynote. To complement this, the Cisco Store introduced merchandise that allowed attendees to own a piece of Cisco’s new AI campaign featuring the campaign artwork.  

Furthermore, the acquisition of Splunk, a significant topic of discussion and a notable presence at Cisco Live, marked one of the largest transactions in the technology sector’s history. To commemorate this milestone, the Cisco Store offered exclusive merchandise as part of the “It’s a new day” campaign, allowing attendees to celebrate this pivotal moment alongside Cisco.  

In addition, the Cisco Store offered an exclusive opportunity for attendees to personalize their Cisco apparel with unique Cisco Live patches. This bespoke experience was facilitated by the innovative use of Webex Connect, which streamlined the customization process. Attendees were invited to scan a QR code, which prompted them to select their preferred item for personalization and their desired patch and specify its placement. This allowed for a seamless drop-off experience, with real-time notifications updating them on the progress of their garment’s construction and alerting them when their item was ready for collection. This personalized touch enhanced the attendee experience and showcased Cisco’s technology integration in creating a memorable retail interaction. You can witness The Patch Station in action on the Cisco Store Tech Lab YouTube channel!

The Cisco Store set up a video feedback station called Fanvoice in a Box, powered by our technology partner Fanvoice, allowing store visitors to leave valuable merchandise and technology feedback for our team.  

Our visitors particularly loved being able to see real-world applications of technology that promise to drive the future of retail forward. And some merchandise requests? More McLaren gear.  

Interested in demonstrating your technology? Please reach out to set up an activation with us!

If you would like to bring your customers through the Cisco Store Tech Lab as a stop on your CXC Tour, you can also schedule your visit now – we'll have the Tech Lab personalized just for you!  

Join us as we dive deeper into Cisco and Cisco partner technology deployed at the Cisco Store! We asked Chris Weber (Senior Product Manager, Meraki MX security and SD-WAN) and Imran Idrees (Senior Product Marketing Manager, Cisco security and SD-WAN) to discuss how Cisco Meraki security allows businesses to stay ahead of the latest threats while reducing both cost and complexity.

In cybersecurity, the quicker you can protect against a threat, the more you minimize adverse impact; or better yet, avoid any disruption at all. However, one of the security challenges facing retailers is a complex and fragmented architecture. A collection of complex security technologies that have built up over time and are separate from networking technologies can lead to slow responses to the latest threats and are prone to human error, as it can require specialist talent to manage. Meraki MX overcomes this by taking a cloud platform approach to deliver the quickest way to protect against the latest threats, while also removing complexity and cost with: 

• An always-on path for the latest Talos threat intelligence
• Easy-to-manage firewalls designed for all IT teams of all skill levels
• Intuitive, serverless architecture that elastically scales
• Automatic smartphone-like firmware updates for zero-touch protection 

Retailers also face various in-store connectivity challenges related to the performance of business-critical payment apps, inventory systems, point-of-sale devices, security cameras and IoT devices, and shoppers’ Wi-Fi and browsing experiences. In addition to powerful protection, Meraki MX solves these challenges in several ways for retailers of all types: 

• Built-in SD-WAN to automatically optimize WAN experience over all uplinks 
• Instant access to ThousandEyes for proactive monitoring and visibility into the performance of the WAN to get ahead of possible issues before they impact performance
• Models with built-in cellular modems for added redundancy
• Part of an integrated SD-Branch management platform with one intuitive UI that also includes:  
  • Intelligent Wi-Fi access points for supreme wireless experience
  • Enterprise-grade SASE protection for remote users with Cisco Secure Connect — wherever they are
  • The simplest and most scalable dedicated 5G cellular gateways to supplement wired connectivity or support a cellular only branch
  • Smart security camera systems and sensors
  • Mobile device management for point-of-sale devices’ security, tracking, and management 

All Cisco security products are powered by Talos and that’s no different for Meraki MX. At its core, Meraki MX has an always-on path to Talos, providing undisputed threat intelligence. Talos is comprised of 250+ of the world’s most sought-after threat researchers and scientists analyzing 625 billion web requests every day – which is approximately more than 70 times the number of Google searches processed every day. They block 20 billion threats daily, 20 times more than any other vendor.  

Meraki MX is a full-fledged next-generation firewall that is easy to deploy and scale. All the latest intelligence from Talos is automatically distributed to millions of Meraki MXs across hundreds of thousands of customers on the Meraki platform to block 98% of all malware—that’s 25% more than the industry average. 

There’s a well-known saying in cybersecurity—the only certainty is change. From the moment a new threat is discovered by Talos, it takes less than 10 minutes for every Meraki MX customer to automatically be protected using zero infosec resources.  

Additionally, one of the advantages of building Cisco Meraki security on a cloud native platform is that it's designed for change. As the security landscape and threats inevitably change, Meraki security can easily adapt to keep retailers’ stores, assets, and customers protected. 

For example, as the latest threats become ever more sophisticated, acting across multiple vectors, Cisco Meraki security is integrating with Cisco XDR. This will allow retailers to quickly thwart sophisticated multi-vector attacks, with machine learning rapidly correlating and contextualizing mountains of network-wide telemetry data and AI instantly suggesting remediation. 

Moreover, with hybrid work and users being more distributed than ever, the Cisco Meraki platform added Cisco Secure Connect to protect users wherever they are. 

Definitely experiences – especially ones that add convenience through a personalized shopping experience. This includes thoughtful and well-timed suggestions, continuity in online and in-store shopping as well as shipping, and more.  

For retailers, cybersecurity protection will be a priority as threats inevitably increase and become more sophisticated. Ongoing digital transformation and simplification to remain competitive will continue to drive the importance of high-performance connectivity, as well as continued data and analytics – businesses must know their customers above all!  

Interested in learning more about Cisco Meraki Security? Visit our page or request a demo now. 

Join us as we dive deeper into Cisco and Cisco partner technology deployed at the Cisco Store! We asked Julie Nguyen (Product Manager, Meraki Switching Platform) to discuss how the switches are used in the Cisco Store and the larger retail industry. 

Network switches keep the world connected and moving as devices become smart and integrated. Meraki Switches are the backbone of improving shopping experiences by providing the connectivity needs and network security to support growing businesses with demanding requirements. As part of the Meraki ecosystem, Meraki Switches create seamless connections between cameras, access points, security appliances, and sensors to offer improved customer and employee experience within store and surrounding environments, such as monitoring lighting and HVAC systems for comfort. In addition, the Meraki ecosystem allows for segmentation to enforce network security between enterprise and IoT networks through features such as adaptive policy for secure segmentation of networks.  

The switching portfolio has transformed in more ways than one to serve a range of operational use cases. Higher port speeds are now available in cost-effective switches, while the enterprise level switches are updated with a familiar usability to that of our Catalyst switches. With this unification between the values of Meraki and Catalyst, the platform can help overcome unique challenges in retail such as servicing issues quickly while offering a comfortable shopping and working experience.  

Choosing the right switch is key to a successful and stable network. With the various options throughout the switching portfolio to meet your needs, Meraki simplifies network management and monitoring from a centralized, cloud-based dashboard.

If you’re designing or upgrading your network, what feature and functionality do you need to consider to select the right switch?  

• Do your end devices require PoE and what is the power budget required?
• What port speeds are required (1Gig, mGig, SFP, SFP+)?
• Do I need to operate in more rugged environments with extended temperatures between –40°C and +70°C?
• Is there a growing need for IoT devices and guest access to your network? Which switches may you need to support Adaptive Policy or SGT for micro-segmentation?
• Do we anticipate growth of connected devices in the future and therefore require more ports to expand?

These are a few questions to help you get started.

The level of creativity in retail to offer unique experiences does not cease to exist. Meraki switching will continue to be the foundation of connecting all people, places and things while expanding to environments that may require higher bandwidth and be rougher around the edges. Imagine being able to host more pop-ups or create outdoor spaces by using MS130R, Meraki’s first ruggedized switch, that can operate at extended temperatures between -40°C and +70°C and offer up to 30W of PoE per port to support outdoor cameras and access points. As the Meraki switching portfolio continues to expand, the possibilities are endless. 

Customers continue to look for unique experiences that allow them to consume products, goods, and services that meet their needs. In this ever-evolving world where there’s an expectation of receiving information quickly, it becomes increasingly important to support fast network speeds and reliable connections while integrating various end devices such as access points, kiosks, tablets, displays, robots and more.

For example, the use of QR codes has grown with the desire to become more sustainable by reducing single-use or limited-use items that share information with customers. More restaurants have started to use QR codes to display their food and drink menus, while clothing lines have used QR codes to share product details. Although the initial goal was to reduce waste, this has also positively impacted customer experiences by increasing the accessibility of information and making buying decisions easier for customers.  

These types of experiences need to be supported by networks capable of meeting the various connectivity needs of integrated systems.  

Information is key to understanding customers' interests and habits; therefore, being able to quickly identify shoppers as they arrive would be crucial for retailers to maximize their profitability. Real-time analysis of customer actions, such as pulling items from the shelves, may allow them to potentially receive coupons and deals on complementary items. This curated, unique experience would require considerations of networks that are scalable and reliable to mitigate downtime within POS systems.

In addition, sustainability has also been top of mind for many parties, and the ability to monitor power consumption has been a growing need. Energy saving and monitoring tactics will more likely be considered and implemented, such as motion sensing for lighting and understanding how much power is being used with each device. As investments are made to improve customer experience through integrated systems, a simple, reliable network would help with its manageability while increasing profitability.  

Interested in learning more about Meraki Switching? Visit our page, check out a podcast case study, or request a demo now. 

Five months after the launch of Webex Connect in August 2023, the enterprise-grade Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) has continued to enhance how businesses engage with their customers. With its ability to handle customer communications over multiple digital channels, its variety of integration options, and quick agent escalation, Webex Connect has become an efficient solution that is relied upon by the Cisco Store.  

455 total chatbot sessions occurred at the Cisco Store in the first quarter of FY24, but that number jumped to 599 in the second quarter, an almost 32% increase. The number of sessions handled by the bot also increased from 193 in the first quarter to 288 in the second quarter, while the number of total agent handovers increased from 262 to 311. This means that not only were more people interacting with the chatbot, but the bot was able to handle 49% more sessions while still giving customers the opportunity to speak to live agents as they saw fit, all while retaining the conversation context. Webex Connect’s easy interface makes it convenient for a small staff to continuously improve the bot’s responses and speak directly with customers whenever needed.

Customers can select their preferred channels to interact with the chatbot. Over Q2, 97% of the bot’s sessions occurred on the web. The online vs. in-person patterns of shoppers stayed consistent from Q1, as was seen by the almost 59% increase in online interactions. There was a marked decrease in in-person interactions, presumably due to the holiday season that dominated Q2.  

In-person store visitors throughout Q2 generally asked the chatbot questions regarding customer tours, engagement with a live agent, order tracking, women’s apparel, and men’s apparel. Online store visitors asked questions around order tracking, gift vouchers, and customer support. Placing orders and receiving assistance has never been easier using Webex Connect, and customers can get their order questions easily answered through a couple of quick interactions rather than having to drive to an in-store location.  

Check back next quarter to see how Webex Connect performed in Q3!  

If you’ve ever visited the Cisco Store Tech Lab in San Jose, California, you’ve probably seen how seamlessly Cisco and our partners’ retail technology is integrated into the store. Now, how do we showcase that technology at our travel stores? Learn about our efficient set-up process at our most recent show, Cisco Live EMEA 2024, held in Amsterdam from February 5-9. 

Everything starts with the floor plan of the booth at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Once we have that, I’ll start mapping out where all the store technology needs to go: we work with our partners to decide where to place their solutions to ensure they can work optimally. 

For instance, we met with EVERYANGLE to determine what areas we want to monitor for footfall analytics, queue counting, and engagement zones. Cameras had to be placed in strategic locations to give us full coverage of the store. 

Cogniac helped us figure out where to place our Meraki MV63 camera to have a clear view of specific T-shirts that were used in a demo in conjunction with Wipro VisionEDGE. When a shirt is picked up off the rack, the MV63 relays that information to Cogniac, and then Wipro VisionEDGE receives a trigger alert to change the screen next to the shirt to educate the customer about the product and explain how our products empower an inclusive future for all.  

Before we ship out to Amsterdam, I’ll set up the technology we’re taking in a lab in San Jose to test that everything is functional. I had our equipment road-tested and packed into just three crates by mid-December (a month and a half before the show), and JLL Logistics helped us ship it all over to Amsterdam.  

A few days before the start of Cisco Live, JLL delivered the crates to our booth at the RAI, and our team started unpacking and deploying the equipment. Since we had the map ready, placing everything where it needed to go was seamless. I gave the network team the placement of the switches, cameras, smart fitting rooms, and so on beforehand so they could run the proper electrical lines through the booth, and all we had to do once we arrived was plug everything in.

This is the first year we’re baselining the store’s power consumption, both at the San Jose store and at all our travel stores, with the help of CAE Labs’ WiserWatts. We plan to schedule our power at next year’s shows to compare energy and cost savings. It took a bit to figure out how to route the power for all the technology through the Meraki MT40s (smart power controllers that monitor and remotely control power). We deployed twelve MT40s for full coverage of the booth, and it took a few trips to the electronics store to get the right adapters, but now that we’ve done it once, it will be a lot easier globally. After that, Fidel (the store’s Merchandising Project Manager) helps us place all our Meraki cameras. Everything is online by the Saturday before the show starts, and then we do any last-minute configuring and deploying our digital signage playlists.

The technology makes it a lot easier for our store associates in their day-to-day functions. Meraki smart buttons were set up to allow the associates to change our digital signage (for instance, changing the screens to indicate that the store was closed) without requiring backend access. Our travel stores utilize temporary store associates, so the process of restocking merchandise was similarly simplified: all they had to do was input the product’s ID, and the corresponding electronic shelf label would flash in the back of house to indicate the item’s location.  

Now that the travel store and tech lab are set up, I review the tour schedule with Kaleigh (the Cisco Store and Tech Lab’s Program Manager) to make sure the flow of the tours is fluid. We had a tour scheduled for the Cisco Champions the day before the show started, so our rehearsals had to be completed in advance.

We’d set up what we like to call the Triforce of Wisdom, or our triangular tech wall, to display our technology to visitors. Fidel, Courtney (our Marketing Lead), and Anjana (our Product Marketing Specialist) had wired up the products, such as the Meraki MT40, VusionGroup’s SESimagotag electronic shelf labels, and so forth beforehand so visitors could see the technology in-person. Meraki just launched their new MV13 and MV33 smart cameras a few days ago, and tour attendees had the opportunity to gain a sneak peek into those products during the show.  

And that’s it! Our set-up process has been streamlined in a way that allows our small team to have things up and running in a matter of a few days.

To learn more about the Cisco Store Tech Lab, come visit us in San Jose, California, or catch us at Cisco Live US in June. If you were able to stop by the store at Cisco Live EMEA, thanks for saying hello! Hope to see you next year.  

Join us as we dive deeper into Cisco and Cisco Partner technology deployed at the Cisco Store! We asked Jeremy Martin (Sales Leader, Americas, Webex CPaaS Solutions) to discuss Webex Connect and how it is used in the Cisco Store and the larger retail industry. 

Jeremy leads sales in North and South America for the Webex cloud communications platform (CPaaS) solution. He has more than two decades of experience helping clients and partners create and grow innovative omni-channel digital engagement between brands and consumers. With several leadership roles over the years, Jeremy has deep mobile industry expertise that’s been leveraged across many vertical markets including retail, healthcare, pharmacy, telecom, hospitality, utilities and transportation. 

Webex Connect is an enterprise-grade Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) for orchestrating and automating end-to-end customer journeys in a single, cloud-based solution. 

Our CPaaS solution revolutionizes customer experiences by streamlining processes such as order status notifications, refunds, and returns inquiries. Customers are empowered to self-serve, effortlessly modifying orders or updating delivery information through the seamless integration of AI-driven chatbots.  

With Apple and Google owning the lion’s share of mobile operating systems (including the default messaging apps as well as maps applications that power local search), consumers are increasingly seeking and initiating conversations with brands through non-traditional channels (Apple Messages for Business, Google Business Messages). Webex Connect provides rich, integrated customer engagement, helping to drive navigation to stores, answer questions on hours and inventory, and reach retail associates to answer more complicated questions.  

Plus, Webex Connect integrates into existing backend systems, allowing retailers to harness valuable customer data for creating personalized shopping experiences across various channels.

Retailers these days are competing on customer experience (CX), so the ability to deliver distinctive experiences is essential. And with the automation Webex Connect enables, employees’ time is freed up to focus on more important tasks. 

Webex Connect plays a pivotal role in enhancing operational efficiency for the Cisco Store. Leveraging this platform, the team has successfully programmed contextual prompts and implemented a responsive chatbot to address simple customer queries round-the-clock. As an enterprise-grade CPaaS solution, Webex Connect is accessible to everyone: developers and businesses alike can create end-to-end customer journeys within the platform. Its user-friendly features, such as low-code tools and drag-and-drop flow builders, foster a collaborative environment across the entire business.  

We anticipate businesses leveraging CPaaS not only to adopt the latest communication channels, but also to craft synchronized customer journeys at every touchpoint. Think: experiences where every interaction works together to build a cohesive, multi-channel journey.

AI is also here to stay. As organizations invest in data, machine learning, and AI capabilities, they gain the tools to understand customers at a granular level; Webex Connect provides out-of-the-box AI capabilities as well as seamless integration with retailers’ existing AI platforms and investments. And with CPaaS, AI stands to make automated, self-serve interactions better, faster, and more cost-effective.  

Convenience is expected to remain a top priority for customers in the future. A seamless fusion of online and offline shopping experiences, like buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS), is also likely to be a focal point. Customers will begin to expect proactive outreach rather than initiating reactive support – they want brands to anticipate their needs before they even know of them themselves. 

Currently, 75% of connected customers prefer to interact with retail brands using digital messaging channels – and that’s only expected to increase. So, to be consistent with consumer preferences, brands will continue to prioritize digital-first, personalized communications, which will become more integrated and more sophisticated by improving how customer data and touchpoints are leveraged. We anticipate they’ll also have a major focus on automation to boost efficiency and reduce costs. 
 
Interested in learning more about Webex Connect? Visit our retail solutions page or get in touch with one of our experts.  

Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to unlock a new level of interaction with the world around us. The Cisco Store has harnessed this technology by creating the Cisco Store Xplorer AR app.

When the app is first opened, it detects whichever store is nearby: the SJC store, the RTP store, or the relevant travel store. The experience has the capability to be customized as well: upon entering the store, visitors can click a Welcome button to be shown a personalized message on the entry signage, powered by Wipro VisionEDGE.  

As visitors explore the store, they can point their phones at hotspots located throughout the store to learn more about Cisco’s retail solutions and partner technology (for instance, a Meraki camera on the ceiling). They are given the option to read the product specifications or see what the camera dashboard is capturing in real-time.   

The Cisco Store Xplorer can increase the operational and data-collecting efficiency of the store. The app is integrated with Meraki API to allow staff to see data from Meraki sensors without needing to access a dashboard; for instance, it gives quick visibility into air quality metrics picked up by the MT15. Furthermore, the app is integrated with VusionGroup’s electronic shelf labels: a staff member only needs to enter a product’s ID into the app and the corresponding shelf label will blink, allowing staff members to easily locate the item. Applying this technology to retail environments will allow for a much smoother shopping experience. 

The possibilities for improved efficiency are limitless with the Cisco Store Xplorer app. Moving forward, visitors can even see and interact with the technology hotspots using the upcoming Apple Vision Pro.

The Cisco Store Xplorer is now available on both the App Store and Google Play. Come visit the Cisco Store Tech Lab to see it in action!

Understanding how to best serve customers is a primary focus for retailers. However, gaining this understanding can be complex. Retailers need to know what their customers are buying, when they’re buying it, and their feelings while shopping. Stationing staff members in the store to gauge customer reactions is not an efficient solution. This is where Meraki and EVERYANGLE come into play, enhancing the customer-focused daily operations of the Cisco Store.  

The MV12 and MV63 are directional cameras. The indoor MV12 offers a choice of a wide or narrow Field of View (FoV) and provides intelligent object and motion detection, analytics, and easy operation via the Meraki dashboard. The outdoor MV63 monitors the entrances and exits of the store.  

Meanwhile, the MV32 and MV93 are 360° fish-eye cameras. The indoor MV32 combines an immersive de-warped FoV with intelligent object detection and streamlined operation via the Meraki dashboard, in addition to addressing major security vulnerabilities. The outdoor MV93 offers panoramic wide area coverage, enhancing surveillance capabilities even in low light.  

The data from these Meraki cameras is utilized by EVERYANGLE in the Cisco Store in various ways.  

A challenge for physical stores is obtaining metrics comparable to online stores, making it difficult to tailor the retail experience effectively. EVERYANGLE’s technology levels the playing field for physical retailers.

EVERYANGLE uses data from the directional cameras MV12 and MV63 to help the Cisco Store better understand its visitors. The Next Generation Footfall App breaks down customer genders and ages, monitors their satisfaction levels post-visit, and tracks the time spent in various store sections. For example, data from a Cisco Live event revealed a 50:50 male to female customer ratio, contrary to the expected 60:40, leading to adjustments in the Store’s product range.  

EVERYANGLE determines purchase conversion rates at physical locations by analyzing integrated sales data and foot traffic. Their machine learning and AI algorithms provide 95% accurate customer insights. Staff members are automatically excluded from these insights, ensuring data accuracy.

EVERYANGLE’s True Customer Identification accurately distinguishes genuine shoppers from non-customers. This empowers retailers with precise customer data, crucial for targeted strategies and store optimization, ensuring decisions reflect real customer activity.  

The Cisco Store can thus easily gauge customer demographics, engagement, and group dynamics without a heavy in-store staff presence, adjusting displays and marketing tactics accordingly. Fortunately, we have seen an increase in positive sentiment from when customers enter the Cisco Store to when they exit!  

This data is used to maintain smooth store operations and continuously improve performance. The fish-eye cameras MV32 and MV93 are used to monitor the checkout lines: a threshold on the queue count allows for staff adjustment at checkouts as needed. If people spend a comparatively longer time at certain stations, we can begin to understand if that longer dwell time means more sales of those specific products.

Meraki’s people detection capabilities, integrated with EVERYANGLE, help the Cisco Store maintain top-notch security. Cameras, integrated with the point of sale (POS) system, anonymously track high-value purchases and returns, aiding in fraud prevention.

Meraki and EVERYANGLE enable the Cisco Store to better understand its customers and serve them effectively, prioritizing their security and privacy. The analytics and dashboards facilitate customer service improvement, ensuring customers leave with a positive shopping experience.