Internet of Things
Integrated Smart Retail Solutions
Bring the store floor online, connecting shelves, refrigeration, footfall, energy and pricing data with your POS and inventory systems to cut losses and lift sales.
Give Every Store the Data Your E-Commerce Channel Already Has
Online, retailers know every visit, search and abandoned basket. In physical stores, much of that is invisible: how many people walk in, where they go, which shelves are empty, whether the freezer is drifting warm, how much energy the store uses overnight. Connected devices such as people counters, shelf cameras or weight sensors, electronic shelf labels, refrigeration sensors and smart meters now make the store floor measurable.
Hanoi Technology integrates these devices into one retail data platform and connects it with POS, inventory, workforce and e-commerce systems. Instead of separate vendor dashboards, store managers and head office get a single view of store performance, with alerts and recommendations that turn data into action on the shop floor.
The Challenge
Store Operations Challenges We Address
Problems that cost retailers money every day, often unnoticed.
Empty Shelves and Phantom Inventory
Products are in the back room or system stock says they exist, but the shelf is empty. Customers leave without buying, and reorders are not triggered. Inaccurate stock records also distort forecasting and ordering for future weeks.
Refrigeration Failures and Food Waste
Cabinets drifting out of temperature range overnight can spoil stock and create food safety risks. Manual temperature logs catch problems too late. Repeated failures often point to equipment that needs servicing.
Limited Insight into Store Traffic
Without accurate footfall counts, conversion rates, staffing levels and campaign effects cannot be measured properly. Head office cannot tell whether low sales come from fewer visitors or weaker conversion.
Siloed Vendor Systems
Shelf labels, alarms, counters and energy meters each come with their own portal. Nobody combines them, and integration with core retail systems is limited. Store staff must check several apps to understand what is happening.
Business Value
Benefits of an Integrated Smart Store
Better On-Shelf Availability
Shelf monitoring and smarter replenishment alerts help staff restock gaps quickly, so customers find what they came for.
Less Spoilage and Safer Food
Continuous temperature monitoring alerts staff and service partners early and creates automatic compliance records.
Measurable Store Conversion
Footfall combined with POS transactions shows conversion by hour, store and campaign, informing staffing and marketing decisions.
Faster, Accurate Price Changes
Electronic shelf labels update prices and promotions centrally, keep shelf and till prices consistent and save hours of manual relabeling.
Lower Energy Costs
Metering of refrigeration, HVAC and lighting identifies waste and abnormal consumption across the store estate.
One View Across the Estate
Head office compares stores on availability, traffic, conversion, energy and incidents, and spreads best practices.
Integration Is the Differentiator
Most smart store technologies already exist as individual products. The advantage comes from combining them: footfall with POS for conversion, shelf gaps with inventory for replenishment, refrigeration alarms with maintenance for faster repairs. We build the data layer that connects devices with retail systems, so each new device makes the others more valuable.
Our Services
Hanoi Technology’s End-to-End Smart Retail Services
Smart retail capabilities we design, integrate and operate.
Smart Store Strategy and Roadmap
We assess store operations, existing devices and systems, prioritize use cases by value and define a phased roadmap across store formats. We also consider staff workflows, so new alerts fit naturally into existing store routines.
- Use-case prioritization
- Store technology assessment
- Phased roadmap and business case
Retail IoT Data Platform
We build a platform that ingests data from counters, sensors, cameras, labels and meters, normalizes it and links it to store, product and time dimensions. Store and head office applications share the same governed data.
- Device integration layer
- Retail data model
- APIs for apps and BI
Shelf and Inventory Monitoring
We integrate shelf cameras, weight sensors or RFID with inventory and POS data to detect gaps, misplaced items and planogram issues. Alerts are prioritized by product velocity and margin so staff fix the most important gaps first.
- Gap and out-of-stock detection
- Replenishment alerts
- Planogram compliance reports
Refrigeration and Food Safety Monitoring
Wireless sensors monitor cabinets, cold rooms and freezers, with alerts, escalation and automated HACCP-style records. Data can also be shared with refrigeration service partners to speed up repairs.
- Temperature sensor network
- Alert and escalation workflows
- Digital compliance logs
Footfall and Store Performance Analytics
We deploy or integrate people counters and combine traffic with sales and staffing data to calculate conversion and labor efficiency. Results are comparable across stores, regions and formats.
- People counting integration
- Conversion dashboards
- Staffing recommendations
Electronic Shelf Labels and Energy Integration
We integrate ESL platforms with pricing and promotions systems, and connect energy meters to estate-wide consumption analytics.
- ESL pricing integration
- Promotion workflows
- Energy monitoring dashboards
Our Approach
How We Roll Out Smart Retail
Prove value in a few stores, then scale across the estate.
- 01
Assess Stores and Priorities
We visit representative stores, map processes and systems, and choose use cases with the strongest business case.
Deliverables: Store assessment · Prioritized use cases
- 02
Design the Integrated Solution
We select devices and design data flows, integrations with POS, inventory and workforce systems, and store and head office dashboards.
Deliverables: Solution architecture · Integration design
- 03
Pilot in Lighthouse Stores
We install and integrate in a small set of stores, train staff and measure results against comparable control stores.
Deliverables: Pilot stores live · Results versus control stores
- 04
Scale Across Formats
We adapt the solution to different store sizes and formats, streamline installation and roll out in waves.
Deliverables: Rollout playbook · Installation and training plan
- 05
Operate and Optimize
We monitor devices and data quality, support store teams and deliver regular performance reviews with head office.
Deliverables: Managed operations · Monthly insight reports
Use Cases
Smart Retail Use Cases
Practical scenarios across grocery, fashion and specialty retail.
Out-of-Stock Alerts in Grocery
Shelf monitoring detects gaps on high-velocity products. Staff receive a task on their handheld and restock before customers notice.
Refrigeration Alarm Management
A freezer starts warming overnight and the system escalates to the on-call manager and maintenance contractor. Stock is moved before it spoils.
Footfall-Based Staff Scheduling
Hourly traffic forecasts guide staffing rosters. Stores add staff at peaks and avoid overstaffing quiet periods.
Dynamic Pricing for Fresh Products
Electronic shelf labels reduce prices on products near their sell-by date. Markdowns happen on time and waste falls.
Campaign Impact Measurement
Traffic and conversion in stores running a promotion are compared with control stores. Marketing sees the true in-store effect.
Estate-Wide Energy Benchmarking
Energy use per store and per square meter is compared across the estate. Outliers are investigated for faulty equipment or settings.
Technology
Smart Retail Technologies
Devices, platforms and integrations we commonly combine.
- Electronic Shelf Labels
- People Counters
- Shelf Cameras
- Computer Vision
- RFID
- Bluetooth Low Energy
- LoRaWAN Temperature Sensors
- Smart Meters
- AWS IoT Core
- Azure IoT Hub
- Azure IoT Operations
- Databricks
- Microsoft Fabric
- Power BI
- Apache Kafka
- Bloomreach
Platforms
Deliver Smart Retail on Your Preferred Platform
- Microsoft AzureModernize data, analytics and AI within your Azure tenant.Explore
- AWSBuild, migrate and run data and AI workloads on Amazon Web Services.Explore
- DatabricksUnified lakehouse for data engineering, analytics and AI.Explore
- BloomreachCustomer data and personalization for digital commerce.Explore
Why Hanoi Technology
Why Organizations Choose Hanoi Technology
Senior, Cross-Functional Teams
Strategy, data, AI, cloud and engineering specialists work as one team, so nothing is lost between hand-offs.
Proven Delivery
More than 50 projects delivered for clients in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Radical Transparency
A written update every week and a demo of working software every sprint, so you always know where things stand.
Cost-Effective Global Delivery
Experienced engineers from our Hanoi delivery hub, with working-hour overlap for every major time zone.
Success Story · E-commerce and retail
Personalized shopping experience for a US fashion retailer
A fast-growing US fashion and lifestyle retailer had plenty of traffic but a 2.1% conversion rate. We combined a recommendation engine with a simpler path from discovery to checkout.
Read the Full StoryMore Success Stories
Food delivery
+58%total ordersAI dispatch and live tracking for a food delivery startup
A fast-growing urban food delivery startup was losing customers to slow deliveries at peak times. We built AI order dispatching and connected restaurants, drivers and customers in real time.
Resources
Featured Resources
Industry trends and practical guidance to help you get more value from data, AI and technology.
FSMA 204 After the Delay: Using Shipment Monitoring to Get Traceability-Ready by 2028
The FDA Food Traceability Rule deadline moved to July 2028, but the data work is large. Here is how to use shipment monitoring and event data to get ready without wasting the extra time.
CSRD After the Omnibus: What the Revised ESRS Mean for Reporting From 2027
The Omnibus and the simplified ESRS reshaped EU sustainability reporting in 2026. Here is who is in scope, what changed in the standards and how to adapt your data and process.
OpenTelemetry in 2026: Building a Vendor-Neutral Observability Strategy
OpenTelemetry has become the default way to collect telemetry. Here is what changed in 2026 and a practical roadmap for a vendor-neutral observability stack.
Build Stores That Run on Real-Time Data
Tell us about your store estate, systems and the problems you want to solve first. We will reply within 24 hours and arrange a free consultation to shape a pilot.
Smart Retail FAQ
Which smart retail use case should we start with?
Start where losses or missed sales are already visible and measurable. For grocery and convenience, refrigeration monitoring and on-shelf availability often have the clearest business case. For fashion and specialty retail, footfall and conversion analytics are a common starting point. We assess your stores and data to recommend the use case that will prove value fastest.
Do we need to replace our existing store devices?
Usually not. Many retailers already have people counters, refrigeration controllers, energy meters or electronic shelf labels from various vendors. We integrate existing devices where they expose data through APIs or standard protocols, and add new ones only where gaps exist. This protects earlier investments and reduces rollout cost.
How do you integrate with our POS and inventory systems?
We connect to POS, ERP, inventory and workforce systems through APIs, event streams, database replication or file exports, depending on what they support. Store, product and time dimensions are aligned so device data can be combined with transactions and stock. Integration work is often the largest part of the project, so we scope it carefully during design.
How do you handle customer privacy in stores?
We prefer technologies that measure traffic and occupancy without identifying individuals, such as anonymous people counters. Where cameras are used for shelf monitoring, they face shelves, and any analysis involving people is designed to avoid storing identifiable images. We help you meet GDPR and local privacy requirements with clear signage, data minimization and retention rules.
How long does a smart store pilot take?
Device installation and integration in a few lighthouse stores can often be completed within a couple of months, depending on hardware lead times and system access. Pilots then run long enough to compare against control stores across different weeks and promotions, typically a few months. We report results weekly so you can make an informed decision on rollout.
What does it cost to roll out across many stores?
Costs depend on the use cases, devices per store, existing infrastructure, store formats and integration complexity. Per-store hardware and installation scale with the estate, while platform and integration costs are largely shared. Pilot results provide real per-store costs and benefits, which we use to build a reliable rollout business case.
Can smart store data be connected with our e-commerce and loyalty data?
Yes. Combining in-store and online data gives a more complete picture of demand and customer behavior. Store traffic and availability data can be analyzed alongside online orders, click-and-collect volumes and loyalty transactions in a shared data platform. This supports decisions such as which stores should fulfill online orders, where to allocate stock and how in-store promotions affect overall sales across channels.