Retail Solutions for Competitive Advantage

With consumers now well-versed in instant comparison shopping and accustomed to two-day delivery for most products, the retail environment must present a compelling and streamlined experience to continue enticing people to shop in person. Kognitive Networks understands that storefronts must be dynamic, network outages are unacceptable, and retail owners need to be cost-competitive to thrive.

Connect

The Kognitive Edge network management platform excels in connectivity, harnessing the latest in 5G and Starlink technologies, along with wired or fiber connections, through intuitive SD-WAN controls. With standard and advanced bandwidth bonding, Kognitive Networks delivers robust connectivity that works right out of the box.

Secure

Kognitive Networks fortifies your digital frontier, integrating cutting-edge Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) technology to safeguard every data transaction and communication on your network. Integrated workflows simplify the setup of advanced network topologies, enabling secure access across multiple platforms while maintaining secure interfaces with both private and public cloud services.

Manage

Cloud Management, as standard, provides a single pane of glass from which in-house or third-party expertise can be leveraged across diverse sites. Deploy systems from the cloud, reduce site visits by troubleshooting and addressing issues remotely, and manage connectivity costs with full transparency through real-time and historical reporting.

Wireless Aware, Software First, Workflow Integrated

A Midwest-based retailer that partnered with Kognitive Networks experienced immediate and long-term improvements in their network operations. After implementing the Kognitive Edge with Starlink and 5G at their remote warehouses and operation centers, they managed to reduce connection disruptions, fine-tune wireless usage, eliminate overage charges, and ultimately lower overall network costs. The following three retail use cases explore how partnering with Kognitive Networks can improve operations and drive retailers toward enhancing their bottom line.

Case 1: UNINTERRUPTED SERVICE AND NETWORK RESILIENCE

Maintaining Connectivity When and Where It Matters

In the retail sector, network instability frequently leads to transaction failures, security risks, and logistical problems. A single hour of network downtime can cost retailers over $5 million, and the ripple effects include operational delays, strained customer relationships with reduced customer confidence, and loss of business opportunities. The need for a reliable network is paramount, especially as retail tech becomes more complex and reliant on stable connections (Opengear, 2023).

Connect with Kognitive Edge™ Advanced Bandwidth Bonding and Konnect™ Technology

Traditional network management approaches might offer basic failover and bandwidth optimization solutions, but the Kognitive Edge™ elegantly handles dropouts and congestion with dynamic WAN source failover and bandwidth bonding. Through the Kognitive Edge™, the Advanced Bandwidth Bonding and Konnect™ technology ensure uninterrupted service, effectively managing connections to maintain operational resilience against outages. With content filtering and prioritization features that can be specifically tailored for the retail environment, a single internet outage or general slowdown can be handled without issue. Critical operations like POS systems remain unaffected, while non-critical convenience networks are separate, secure, and dynamically allotted only the amount of bandwidth that won’t interfere with daily business. To complement higher availability, Konnect™ remote connectivity enables precision remote configuration and troubleshooting that reduces the need for on-site IT interventions, making network management efficient and cost-effective.

Great Results without Disruption

With the Kognitive Edge™, retailers experience a distinct reduction in network outages, ensuring continuous operations and transaction processing that quickly translate into a high Return on Investment (ROI). Enhancing network stability increases customer satisfaction by maximizing performance at immediate customer touchpoints; backend systems benefit from high availability that keeps a business running, no matter the source of disruption. A robust network infrastructure driven by Kognitive Networks enables retailers to adopt more advanced technologies and support IoT/OT devices to further improve security and customer experience, two important metrics that directly drive the bottom line.

Case 2: ZERO DAY INSTALLS & CLOUD CONTROL

The Speed of Business: No Time for a Technician

Rapidly setting up reliable network connectivity in new retail locations or during special events is a significant challenge for retailers, often leading to operational delays and missed business opportunities. In today's fast-paced retail environment, the inability to promptly establish network connections can result in lost revenue and complicated, stressful launches (Extreme Networks, 2023). With construction schedules and varying staff availability, having to wait for a physical network install before building out the digital configuration can drag out project timelines for months and months.

Manage Scalability with the Wireless Aware Kognitive Edge™ and Zero Touch Installs

While traditional network management solutions depend heavily on wired connectivity, the Kognitive Edge™ offers an agile multi-carrier/multi-technology wireless management solution with out-of-box compatibility for LTE/5G and the newest LEO satellite networks: Starlink now, and soon, OneWeb / Kuiper / AST. Deploying networks using wireless technology ensures immediate connectivity, taking the serial nature of network installation and physical issues out of the equation. With cloud-managed configuration and connectivity, deploying the Kognitive Edge feels truly software defined—scaling quickly is simple with digital system registration and remote system profile for a Zero Touch Installation. Once wired services become available, they can be instantly integrated into the individual system manually or by remotely loading stored configurations from the cloud for consistency across entire deployments.

No Delays on Opening Day, Simple Transitions to Everyday Operations

Launching an initiative with the Kognitive Edge™ allows retailers to ease into new stores or hosted events without the fear of day-one connectivity issues. This immediate network availability from the onset enhances customer engagement and ensures a seamless customer experience from the moment the doors open. Moving forward, new sites become immediately integrated into the existing network topology without having to modify the network stack.

Case 3: WIRELESS FREEDOM

Rural connectivity—Are there hidden costs?

With new wireless networks, high-bandwidth links are available in every corner of the globe, but costs can quickly skyrocket as new networks come online if users and usage patterns continue to behave as they did on unlimited-use wired internet links. As new users in remote areas gain access to this high-speed internet, misuse and security problems start to manifest as the networks see more traffic.

Secure Content Filtering to Limit Use, Traffic Shaping with Quota Kontrol™

Kognitive Networks addresses this challenge through a combination of content filtering of applications and site access for users and with the advanced usage-based traffic policies in Quota Kontrol™. A metering platform built around usage policy for cutting-edge metered wireless technologies like satellite links and LTE/5G, Quota Kontrol™ makes intelligent traffic routing decisions based on overall usage. When usage approaches pre-set quotas, access controls automatically adjust device access and link use to keep within defined usage criteria. This approach ensures responsible usage of high-speed, low-latency connections while also controlling costs, crucial for maintaining consistent service and staying within budget.

Stay Cost-Competitive with High-Speed Connectivity

Retailers equipped with the Kognitive Edge™ enjoy responsible use of high-quality connectivity, expanding access to new sites while staying within budgets. Controlled access networks keep users safe while reserving bandwidth for essential business operations. Spending less resources on unanticipated overage costs allows these retailers time and capital to invest in new technologies that drive engagement and the bottom line.