French firms Kerlink and Smart Traffik have built a responsive end-to-end LoRaWan system that helps retail outlets create personalised shopper experiences and build brand loyalty,

IoT firm Kerlink partnered retail analytics provider Smart Traffik to build the responsive end-to-end LoRaWan system that lets retailers enhance visitor in-store journeys and improving what they call the phygital transformation of the point of sale.

Built with Kerlink’s low-power IoT reference design, the system combines Kerlink’s Wirnet iFemtoCell-evolution indoor gateways and its Wanesy management centre with Smart Traffik’s in-store data analytics and plug-and-play SmartBox.

The two companies also built a wifi tracking anchor that anonymously collects store visitors’ smartphone signals in real time. It then records and tracks shoppers’ journeys in stores, including time spent at specific displays or in various sections. Its combination with other data provides store owners and managers with retail intelligence that can be used to increase foot traffic and sales, as well as measure effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

“Many studies have shown that today’s customer wants to be valued and recognised,” said Smart Traffik CEO Laurent Simonin. “More than three out of four shoppers like it when they receive product offers or promotions based on their purchasing history from a retailer, indicating a desire for a more-personalised shopping experience. This new retail analytics designed and built with Kerlink will empower retailers to get the smart data they need to better engage with their customers.”

The system, which was announced during last month’s LoRa Alliance members meeting in Amsterdam, is an upgrade of Smart Traffik’s existing in-store analytics IoT that was based on the GSM standard. Like that system, the new offering created by Kerlink and Smart Traffik complies with the EU’s GDPR rules.

“Working with Kerlink helped transform this into an IoT LoRaWan solution, bringing cost optimisation and more flexibility and allowing it to be future-proof and scalable with the possibility to flexibly add additional use cases in the mid-term,” Simonin said.

Guillaume Boisgontier, Kerlink’s products marketing manager, said the system developed with Smart Traffik was part of Kerlink’s strategy to complement its hardware portfolio with end-to-end software and hardware that serve concrete use cases and allow customers to improve RoI quickly.

“We launched that strategy last year with the introduction of four dedicated end-to-end solutions – smart facility management, smart tracking and logistics, smart asset monitoring, and smart building – with the help of several partners,” Boisgontier said. “Smart Traffik is a new partner with which we are working jointly on the design of a future-proof solution that is unique and positions Kerlink in a new and promising vertical, smart retail.”

Based in France, with subsidiaries in the USA, Singapore, India and Japan, Kerlink is a founding and board member of the LoRa Alliance and the uCIFI Alliance. More than 120,000 Kerlink installations have been rolled out with more than 330 clients in 69 countries.

Smart Traffik, a technology company with an omnichannel strategy, has built drive-to-store and in-store analytics for brands and retailers to enrich the shopper experience, increase in-store revenue and optimise RoI on digital marketing expenses.

Founded in 2012 by Laurent Simonin, Emmanuel Isnard and Yann Gilquin, Smart Traffik works for more than 140 clients. Its products are connected to roughly 105,000 points of sales in more than 110 countries. Based in France, it has subsidiaries in the USA.