| Gigabit Ethernet in Retail (What’s Driving Gigabit E-net?) When it comes to the retail network, how fast is fast enough? For many retailers, fast networks (100 Mb/sec) are being superseded tenfold by Gigabit Ethernets (1 Gb/sec). These supercharged networks can operate over the same CAT-5 copper wiring as their counterparts, or they can run over fiber cabling for long-distance connectivity. What's driving this need for greater throughput - this need for speed? Faster store connections won’t help without faster store Ethernet switches. In-Store Promotions Require Higher Bandwidth. In the past, vendors might promote products in stores via signs. The next step was for retailers to install monitors at strategic locations throughout the store. With high-bandwidth networks, multimedia presentations can be pushed across the Internet and over the retailers' LAN right to the in-store display screen. Some retailers are getting ready for RFID. What does RFID have to do with the retail trend toward Gigabit Ethernet networks? Tracking products at the pallet and case level using RFID (radio frequency identification) is going to cause data traffic to increase by as much as tenfold, (source Bob Delaney, director of industry solutions for Sun Microsystems, Menlo Park, CA). Initially, this level of identification will not be tied to the retailer's POS. However, within the next four to eight years, we may see RFID go from the pallet and case level down to the item level for certain items that warrant such detailed tracking such as electronic devices, pharmaceuticals, and appliances. Gigabit Ethernet switches in retail networks are one way retailers can prepare way for the future of supply chain management. Gigabit Ethernet allows voice and data over the same network. Traditionally, voice and data have traveled over two separate networks. New voice and data protocols and higher bandwidth networks are changing this rule. With Gigabit Ethernet networks, retailers are able to converge voice and data using VoIP. New technologies are providing retailers with new ways to reach customers, track merchandise, reduce shrinkage, and integrate voice and data. The one thing all these technologies share is a need for large bandwidth. The trend meeting that requirement today is the Gigabit Ethernet. Ultimately, however, it isn't new technology that contributes to faster, higher-bandwidth networks; it's the correlation of faster networks to the speed at which merchandise moves off the shelf and transactions race through the company. As retailers expand the use of new technologies to improve customer satisfaction, converge business systems and enable associates to have access to business information systems, the delivery of consumer goods will get faster, and meet more consumers’ expectations. Retailers who embrace these technologies will see increases in same store sales, improved levels of customer satisfaction, and bottom line revenue.
Learn more about 3Com retail network solutions by using the online resources linked from this page or email us at retail@3com.com. |
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