A retail reckoning for IoT.

Understanding the movers and shakers of decision making in implementing retail IoT for Intel in Japan.

The Challenge:

We live in an ever connected digital world, with smart devices and smarter consumers. As technology constantly shapes our interactions of tomorrow, it is critical to understand the decision makers who make the tech choices of today that shape retail experiences of tomorrow. This B2B study was commissioned by Intel who wanted to understand insights into who were making key implementation decisions for retail IoT and the nuances of their decision making process across stakeholders, so that Intel may better market their IoT solutions.

The Work

The Solution:

This study was broken into two key markets, India and Japan. The research methodology for this study included conducting first-hand interviews, reaching out to subject matter experts who could connect with their network of contacts and supplementing & corroborating these findings through a lot of secondary qualitative research.

The resulting findings of this report were compiled into a PowerPoint deck which mapped out the shape of IoT penetration in the market, with case studies of successful implementations. This was supplemented by interviews conducted to gain insights from subject market experts. The resulting compilation mapped out different stakeholders and the decision making process of implementing an IoT solution in Japan, considering the cultural influencers.

The Experience

Project Diary:

What it was like

This project had a lot of firsts for me as my first research project. Under the guidance of the head of strategy, my role in the project included project management and co-ordination, talking to the subject matter experts, reviewing the interviews and findings, gathering data from third party research reports and compiling the findings into a presentation that was presented to key stakeholders at Intel. The work also saw me garner an understanding of the Intel procurement process having to handle the agency billings and co-ordinating with our internal finance stakeholders and client management for resolution of the same.

Skills:

Client management

Working with client teams to scope out and deliver the initial research.

Strategy

Writing the strategy deck and talking to subject matter experts.

Vendor Management

Working with research vendors and managing them.