Few industries connect the digital and physical spheres to the same degree as retail.
Consumers shop online for physical products, navigate physical spaces searching for digital offers, and engage with customer service via social media channels. As e-commerce capabilities grow, consumer expectations continue to drive digital transformation and AI in the retail industry, asking more of the technologies on which retail businesses are built.
Adapting to these market pressures requires a new kind of networking solution. Juniper’s Mist AI network, with AI-driven virtual network assistant Marvis, harnesses the versatility of artificial intelligence and the flexibility of modern networking to offer retailers a transformative, agile network backbone. Enhanced by expert Network as a Service (NaaS) management from CBTS, Juniper Mist AI tears down barriers to network modernization for retailers and creates a world-class, fully connected customer experience.
This article explores five core benefits of Mist AI for your retail business and the unmatched advantage of managed NaaS from CBTS.
What is Marvis
Juniper’s Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, powered by Mist AI, acts as a virtual member of your networking team. Technicians interact with Marvis via natural language queries and receive conversational responses thanks to large language model training and generative AI.
Marvis AI leverages your data to enhance your team’s efficiency—making recommendations, taking proactive steps for network health, and providing integrated help desk functions.
Read more: Embracing a digital workplace transformation
Excellence in unified customer experiences
In the modern retail marketplace, customer satisfaction hinges on personalization and consistency. Consumers expect an experience tailored to their unique preferences and behaviors, unified across communication channels and even locations.
Juniper Mist provides a dependable, easy-to-manage solution for in-store connectivity that integrates location services and other customer data to generate user insights. With this information, retailers have the tools to implement transformative customer experiences. The adoption of Mist AI in the retail industry consolidates physical and digital footprints to create a holistic, intuitive interaction for your customers.
Mist AI capabilities include:
- Frictionless grab-and-go with autopay.
- Enhanced self-checkout.
- Interior location finding.
- Unified online and in-store shopping and pickup.
- Location-based special offers, menus, and other communication.
- Augmented-reality marketing activations and engagement.
- Connected video displays, point-of-sale (POS) devices, and creative Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
Reliable, self-healing network connectivity
Retailers need a robust solution for in-store connectivity to power the kind of highly connected, data-intensive experiences that customers have come to expect. Unreliable services can quickly disillusion customers and detract from the experience more than they add, but with Mist’s high availability and proactive remediation, unplanned downtime is less of a risk than ever before.
Mist’s natively integrated AI—the technology that powers Marvis—actively monitors network status and health. Over time, Mist AI learns from your network operations and begins to identify congestion, service interruptions, degraded user experience, and other hurdles. Human technicians can review collected data and troubleshoot with guidance from Marvis or enable intelligent automated troubleshooting to resolve issues before users—customers and staff alike—notice them.
Scalable cloud-native network architecture
Legacy network infrastructure has not kept up with the pace of modern business. Wired connectivity, hardware-dependent network configuration, and reliance on isolated data centers leave retailers with long lead times when deploying new retail sites. This potential complication makes spot deployments or temporary locations logistically prohibitive.
Next-generation AI in the retail industry is enabling operations to scale up and down as needed. Mist’s AI functionality enables agile site deployments streamlined by intelligent configuration, easing the demand on network administrators and reducing the need for on-site visits. Flexible WAN architecture allows retail businesses to grow, expand, and adapt while maintaining reliable, fast connectivity between storefronts, satellite offices, and headquarters.
Learn more: Level up your operations with cloud solutions for retailers
AI-enhanced retail industry IoT
The retail industry represents a prime example of cutting-edge integration between digital and physical assets and capabilities, making it an ideal candidate for innovative Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. Juniper Mist’s high-availability, high-bandwidth network supports the integration of connected smart devices that improve both store operations and the customer experience.
As with customer information, Mist AI can ingest and analyze data collected from IoT devices to generate insights into logistics, store layout, security, and more.
IoT retail solutions:
- Smart cameras
- Identify products to streamline checkout.
- Enhance physical safety with person detection or slip-and-fall notifications.
- Beacons and location sensors
- Offer location-specific messaging and special offers.
- Analyze foot traffic within the store for layout optimization.
- Atmospheric sensors
- Integrate air quality and smoke detection into safety alerts.
- Protect warehouses from temperature or humidity extremes.
- Door sensors
- Secure entrances, exits, and sensitive areas.
- Monitor traffic flow and store capacity.
Learn more: Top retail technology trends of the tech revolution
Intelligent security for sophisticated threats
In addition to the cybersecurity demands of any modern, connected business, retailers also need to protect sensitive customer data. Breaches risk financial and regulatory penalties, loss of consumer trust, and damage to your brand’s reputation. The risk to retailers is urgent: the retail and wholesale sector is the second most targeted in North America, experiencing 18% of all cybersecurity incidents in the region, as documented by IBM.
Mist counteracts the threat with end-to-end visibility across your network, built-in zero-trust architecture, and streamlined policy management. Mist’s AI capabilities also enable the network to respond autonomously to threats, acting on up-to-the-minute threat intelligence and minimizing the risk of expensive downtime. Given the retail industry’s increasing attack surface and reliance on connected devices, AI’s autonomous threat detection and response are essential for real-time protection.
Learn more: Innovating retail: Technology as a catalyst for business wins
Unlock the full potential of Juniper Mist AI in the retail industry with CBTS NaaS services
With over four decades of experience working alongside industry-leading retail brands, CBTS is the premier partner for retailers pursuing digital transformation. Expert engineers from CBTS connect with your technology team to deeply understand your organization’s networking goals and build a roadmap to achieve them.
Fully managed NaaS services through CBTS provide your organization with access to the latest in Juniper Mist AI infrastructure, optimized for your business needs, alongside enterprise-level support and maintenance that help you achieve the maximum return on your technology investment.
Ensure your retail digital transformation rests on the best possible foundation. Contact CBTS today to explore how Juniper Mist AI can accelerate your growth in the retail industry.
