The IoT is often talked about in the context of consumer applications. The conversation surrounding everything from smart homes to smartwatches is always in a user-friendly format.

But what about businesses? What potential does the internet of things (IoT) have to influence and improve business apart from the obvious creation of consumer-friendly products to sell?

Here are a few of the ways that the growing world of the IoT has the potential to impact your business in the future.

1. Better Health for Employees

According to Plume, the growing IoT has the potential to impact the future of business through everything from supply chains to smart offices and even smart cities. The smart Wi-Fi company goes on to list a number of specific ways that the IoT can create this effect — one of which is the subtle improvement of employee health and safety.

The IoT has already been revolutionizing consumer health through wearable fitness devices that track and report countless health-related factors. In addition, during the pandemic, some applications enabled users to know when they were near someone who was at risk for COVID-19.

These kinds of technologies have ample use in the workplace. Fitness trackers are helpful for everyone from desk jockeys to warehouse workers. GPS trackers can also help individuals maintain their safety as they move around fulfillment centers and factories.

2. Improved Business Productivity

The IoT comes from adding chips to everything from refrigerators to clothing. This ability to “computerize” nearly any product has the exciting potential to improve productivity within the workplace, as well.

One example of this will be the ability to track products throughout the supply chain without human oversight. FowMedia specifically highlights the ability to strategically locate sensors and beacons that help a professional oversee and manage their assets.

This automated management of assets, in whatever form they take, has the potential to reduce costs and save time. This equates to better efficiency and, by extension, greater productivity.

3. Streamlined Customer Experiences

The customer experience is the point where business IoT and consumer IoT meet — and it can have a huge effect on your business.

A good example of this is smart carts. These clever IoT devices have the power to streamline the in-shopping experience and create better-satisfied customers in the process.

A smart cart has the ability to auto-tally items placed inside it. It can then create additional product recommendations and allow a customer to check out without standing in line.

This saves the customer time and allows them to avoid standing in close proximity to others (something that is increasingly valuable as the world continues to grapple with a pandemic). In addition, the ability to cross-promote personalized shopping suggestions to customers can lead to greater revenue for a business.

While this is a retailer-specific example, you can apply the potential to many other situations. As consumers and companies alike embrace smart devices, they can collectively use them to clean up and improve the retail experience.

4. Even Better Remote Work

One of the simplest ways that the IoT can improve business is by keeping everyone connected. Ever since the pandemic drove people into their homes en masse, the ability to remain connected when off of a job site has become more valuable.

Along with keeping existing teams connected no matter their geographical circumstances may be, remote work has also allowed businesses to access the best talent from a global talent pool.

The IoT has the potential to continue refining the remote work experience as we know it. For instance, smart cars are increasingly able to provide Wi-Fi to their passengers. Smartphone hotspots are also easy to set up and (thanks to 5G) can now offer blisteringly fast online experiences.

Even the rapid growth of SpaceX’s Starlink program bodes well for the IoT to thrive in a world where remote work is becoming the norm.

5. Reduced Supply Chain Costs

There are plenty of ways that the IoT can directly impact a business. And then there are the quieter, tangential ways that it will improve business as we know it.

One of the latter is the impending arrival of driverless vehicles. While autonomous passenger vehicles are still a little ways away, the use of driverless cars is already impacting the front end of business.

According to AZCentral, in late 2021 the autonomous driving brand TuSimple Holdings conducted a successful driverless test with a big-rig truck. The oversized, computer-driven IoT vehicle made the trip from Tucson to Phoenix, traversing 80 miles on busy Arizona highways in the process.

This heralds a new era in the supply chain, one that will be driven by the IoT. As autonomous vehicles start to ferry goods from one point to the next without the need for drivers, efficiency will increase and costs will drop, improving businesses’ bottom lines in the process.

A Brighter Future With the IoT

The precise way the IoT will unfold is difficult to predict. There are many factors to consider, from consumer demand to leadership decisions, environmental factors, employee considerations, and much more.

The one thing that is certain at this point is that the IoT is going to change business — and in most instances, likely for the better.

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