A look into the Internet of Things future of the food
retail industry
Technology
Assignment 1: Future Scenario
Student: -
October 10, 2021
, 1775418 - Technology Essay - October 10, 2021
1612 words
A look into the Internet of Things future of the food retail industry
Introduction
Food retailers form crucial links holding the system together and
increases consumers' access to local food (Trivette, 2018). The value of the food
retail industry has never stopped growing. According to a study by Nils-Gerrit
Wunsch (2020), the smallest food retail market in 2016, Africa and the Middle
East, is projected to grow by 62 per cent in 2021 because the importance of food
retailers never went down. Consumers continue to visit local food retail stores
because of the convenience, quality, price, and navigation, fundamental for low-
income families (Webber et al., 2010). Younger generations are also making
more use of food retailers, and more and more actions are made for
sustainability and to reduce food waste (Stenmarck et al., 2011). Countries like
Denmark, the UK, and Finland have created companies and campaigns to raise
awareness about food waste, and the Netherlands implemented a sustainable
food production policy in 2008 (Stenmarck et al., 2011, pp. 33-35).
Despite the improvements in the food retail industry, there are stressful factors.
From research by Aylott en Mitchell (1998), grocery shopping
is suggested to be the most stressful of all shopping. Factors such as the long
waiting queues, crowding, heavy bags, and the lack of staff have all been
mentioned (Aylott & Mitchell, 1998). Food retailers can improve these factors by
modernizing and adapting how their stores work, and the Internet of Things can
improve the most common problems. Internet of Things, primarily used in the
manufacturing industry, can be applied in several ways in the food retail industry
(i-SCOOP, 2021; Ocado Group PLC, 2017). This essay, shows through existing
2
retail industry
Technology
Assignment 1: Future Scenario
Student: -
October 10, 2021
, 1775418 - Technology Essay - October 10, 2021
1612 words
A look into the Internet of Things future of the food retail industry
Introduction
Food retailers form crucial links holding the system together and
increases consumers' access to local food (Trivette, 2018). The value of the food
retail industry has never stopped growing. According to a study by Nils-Gerrit
Wunsch (2020), the smallest food retail market in 2016, Africa and the Middle
East, is projected to grow by 62 per cent in 2021 because the importance of food
retailers never went down. Consumers continue to visit local food retail stores
because of the convenience, quality, price, and navigation, fundamental for low-
income families (Webber et al., 2010). Younger generations are also making
more use of food retailers, and more and more actions are made for
sustainability and to reduce food waste (Stenmarck et al., 2011). Countries like
Denmark, the UK, and Finland have created companies and campaigns to raise
awareness about food waste, and the Netherlands implemented a sustainable
food production policy in 2008 (Stenmarck et al., 2011, pp. 33-35).
Despite the improvements in the food retail industry, there are stressful factors.
From research by Aylott en Mitchell (1998), grocery shopping
is suggested to be the most stressful of all shopping. Factors such as the long
waiting queues, crowding, heavy bags, and the lack of staff have all been
mentioned (Aylott & Mitchell, 1998). Food retailers can improve these factors by
modernizing and adapting how their stores work, and the Internet of Things can
improve the most common problems. Internet of Things, primarily used in the
manufacturing industry, can be applied in several ways in the food retail industry
(i-SCOOP, 2021; Ocado Group PLC, 2017). This essay, shows through existing
2
