With challenges like organized retail crime, inventory inefficiencies, and rising consumer expectations, retailers must adopt innovative solutions that ensure product availability and optimize operations. SmartSense by Digi addresses these challenges through its cutting-edge IoT solutions that provide real-time location tracking, condition monitoring, and actionable insights. These improve inventory management, protect assets, and enhance overall efficiency across the supply chain.
SmartSense by Digi’s new offering, SmartSense Voyage, is a revolutionary product designed to solve supply chain challenges, providing organizations with real-time location tracking and condition monitoring for moving assets. SmartSense’s comprehensive solutions empower companies to streamline their operations, improve efficiency, and ensure product availability, even in the face of supply chain disruptions, route deviations, or freight theft. With SmartSense Voyage set for its official launch at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show in January 2025, the company is poised to continue its leadership in providing digital decision-making that drives business value.
The retail and manufacturing sectors are under immense pressure to improve inventory control as logistics complexity, crime, and product loss continue to rise. Traditional methods often leave critical gaps during transitions, resulting in inefficiencies and missed revenue opportunities. SmartSense is addressing these challenges with innovative IoT-enabled solutions that provide real-time visibility into the location and condition of goods throughout the entire supply chain. SmartSense Voyage offers enhanced protection and control of assets, ensuring that products are stored and transported under optimal conditions. This IoT-driven solution eliminates blind spots in traditional inventory management, helping retailers improve their operational efficiency and reduce waste, ultimately increasing profitability.
One of the most pressing issues facing these industries today is freight theft and organized retail crime (ORC). The National Retail Federation reports that ORC costs U.S. retailers an average of $700,000 per $1 billion in sales, with total annual losses reaching approximately $30 billion. Traditional theft defense measures, such as physical cameras and security guards, are no longer enough to combat the sophisticated nature of modern retail crime. SmartSense Voyage provides unprecedented visibility into route deviations and the location of stolen goods, empowering retailers with digital intelligence that serves both as proof and as a tool for product recovery and prosecution. With its ability to track and monitor goods in transit, SmartSense offers retailers a powerful weapon against this growing threat.
SmartSense’s IoT-enabled solutions also help companies overcome other significant challenges, such as product safety, regulatory compliance, and inventory management. By providing end-to-end visibility, SmartSense enables retailers to monitor inventory from distribution centers to in-store receiving, ensuring that all goods are stored and transported in compliance with industry regulations. For example, its real-time condition monitoring can detect temperature excursions or other issues before they escalate into larger problems, preventing costly product losses and ensuring compliance with food safety standards. With SmartSense, retailers and manufacturers alike gain the tools they need to make proactive decisions, reduce stockouts, avoid unnecessary waste, and capture more revenue opportunities.
In addition to its powerful real-time monitoring capabilities, SmartSense provides prescriptive workflows that help companies take corrective actions before issues impact product quality or availability. The solution gathers real-time data from IoT sensors, which are analyzed and converted into actionable insights. Using advanced machine learning models, SmartSense automates decision-making processes, allowing retail teams to act swiftly and accurately. This empowers employees to focus more on customer service while reducing the time spent on manual decision-making processes, ultimately leading to a more efficient operation.
The heart of SmartSense Voyage lies in its T1 Sensor, a real-time location device that tracks the temperature, light, impact, and location of moving assets. With a battery life of up to one year, the T1 Sensor offers a stealthy, inconspicuous design that is critical for avoiding detection by criminals. It provides cellular connectivity and supports integration with enterprise systems, anti-fraud solutions, and other case management platforms. Automated alerts ensure that stakeholders are immediately notified if there are any issues with the shipment, enabling quick corrective actions and protecting the integrity of the product.
SmartSense by Digi is redefining supply chain intelligence with innovative breakthroughs in location and condition tracking and alerting. We aim to empower businesses to anticipate challenges, ensure compliance, and unlock transformative growth through real-time monitoring, prescriptive analytics, and data-driven decision-making. — Guy Yehiav, President
Case studies from some of the leading players in the industry demonstrate the tangible impact SmartSense has had on retail management. Essilor Luxottica, for example, uses SmartSense Voyage to track shipments and monitor unexpected activity during transit. By using SmartSense, the company was able to quickly identify a suspicious stop and intervene before the products were stolen. Similarly, a national grocery chain has leveraged SmartSense to monitor the time pallets of beef are exposed to non-refrigerated environments, reducing product waste and preserving inventory.
SmartSense’s success extends across multiple verticals, including retail pharmacy, food retail, healthcare, and more. It has proven to be the go-to solution for ensuring product safety, maintaining compliance, and managing inventory efficiently. With customers like CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and Rite Aid, SmartSense has set the bar for condition monitoring and alerting, offering enterprise-scale solutions that are adaptable, scalable, and reliable.
As the company continues to innovate, SmartSense is focused on further enhancing its solutions with new sensing capabilities, deeper enterprise integrations, and more machine learning intelligence. The launch of SmartSense Voyage is just the beginning, as the company is committed to being a visionary leader in the space. With its proven track record, comprehensive solutions, and commitment to customer success, SmartSense by Digi is well-positioned to remain at the forefront of the retail management industry. By delivering end-to-end visibility, real-time data, and actionable insights, SmartSense empowers retailers to stay ahead of the competition, improve operational efficiency, and drive profitability.