Singtel introduces 5G-enabled smart retail showcase

Source: Singtel. Malte Hartwig from Zühlke demonstrating the Scandit’s MatrixScan and Smart Data Capture solutions for seamless integration and efficient store operations.

Singtel has launched Singapore’s first 5G-enabled smart retail showcase to help enterprises adopt advanced digital retail solutions.

Designed to look like a real store, the showcase will feature technology solutions from Apple’s enterprise partners that help enhance retail workflows, improve operational efficiencies and create a great customer experience for retailers.

Dennis Wong, VP, Enterprise 5G and Platforms, Singtel said: “The pandemic has motivated retailers to become more innovative in engaging with customers, both online and through physical in-store experiences, driving retail enterprises to seek technology solutions to remain relevant and profitable. Retailers also continue to face common issues like figuring out how to attract customers with unique and personalised shopping experiences, increase customer engagement and retention, and improve productivity in a tight labour market, among others.

"With this showcase, enterprises can leverage Singtel’s high-speed connectivity and ultra-low latency 5G network and multiedge computing (MEC) solutions like Paragon, Apple products and partner technologies to explore innovative solutions that they can apply in their physical or online stores to help them differentiate themselves from the competition and grow their business in a digital economy.”

The showcase will feature technology from six solution providers initally: SFX Corporation, Dabton, Matterport, Zühlke, Scandit and Eleos. These partner solutions will leverage Apple products and software to deliver easy-to-use solutions, utilising built-in features like machine learning and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) to unlock new digital capabilities at scale.

The solutions will be deployed through the latest lineup of Apple products including the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone SE, iPad Pro, and iPad mini, which offer best-in-class performance and all-day battery life. Together with Singtel’s 5G network, business customers will be able to deploy retail applications for computational photography, spatial measurement, and real-time operations monitoring.

The retail applications can also be managed via Singtel Paragon, the industry’s first all-in-one orchestration platform for 5G, MEC and cloud services. Paragon provides enterprises with a single portal to conduct network analytics, manage connectivity and workloads across their infrastructure, and deploy retail applications at the edge of the network. The platform also provides access to the Paragon Marketplace, where enterprises can list or acquire retail applications for immediate deployment.