ZigBee adds retail services to the mix

Global standardization body the ZigBee Alliance has added retail to its roster of services the standard supports. The non-profit organization, which also serves the energy management, resident, commercial and consumer electronics industries, announced this week it would begin developing Zigbee Retail Services, a new standard focusing on the retail experience from point-of-manufacture to point-of-sale.

“If you take a look at the applications that have emerged so far – home and commercial building automation, ZigBee energy, health care, remote control and telecom services – retail really takes advantage of all of that in a very comprehensive way and adds more to the puzzle,” said ZigBee Alliance chairman Bob Heile. “This is not just point-of-sale, but point-of-manufacturing through point-of-sale. We’re very excited about that. “

In its bid to improve the retail supply chain, the ZigBee Alliance is anticipating substantial new product and service opportunities. For the retail market, Heile said ZigBee will define applications for mobile terminals and offer plug-in modules to simplify adoption. The wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard can also be used to collect in-store information from customers and establish a wireless network for in-home shopping and retail assistance, including support for voice-capable employee and customer devices in a variety of retail environments.

“[Digital signage] is a small aspect of it compared to the universe of opportunity that is accessible if you really look at the retail space in a broad way,” Heile said, adding that features like location-based services that can help retailers drive sales and help consumers shop more efficiently will also fall in the realm of retail services. The retail standard will also be used for regulatory compliance of in-store security and monitoring and energy management within retail outlets.


The ZigBee Alliance is coming off a banner 2009 where it gained significant momentum with smart energy, remote controls and home automation. It also added its first US telco, AT&T, to its membership. Heile said AT&T joined to explore wireless services and ZigBee health care in particular. The Alliance already counts European telcos Telecom Italia, France Telecom and Telefonica amongst its 340 member companies. ZigBee is also welcoming new members for this initiative, describing ideal members as retailers, distributors, companies involved in portable/mobile handheld devices, point-of-sale, carts, refrigeration, HVAC, lighting, building control systems, supply chain management and logistic supply. ZigBee Retail Services is the seventh public application profile the Alliance has undertaken.

In other ZigBee news, the Alliance also announced today that it has certified 11 devices from five different companies using ZigBee Home Automation. The new products, from adhoco, Develco, Freescale, Ubilogix and SimpleHomeNet, bring ZigBee’s total to 28 products certified for the smart home.