Exclusive: Inside Motorola Solutions’ vision for the future of retail

Organisations in the retail sector are getting used to shifting from one challenge after another.

Amidst the panic of the global pandemic, Australians ran toilet paper supplies dry in supermarkets. Violence in retail environments remains at concerning levels while retailers continue to grapple with better ways to serve customers and help their staff to manage their workflows amidst a deluge of demands from shoppers.

To better support retail in overcoming these challenges, Motorola Solutions has directed considerable resources and investments towards its strategy and innovations for the sector in recent years.

From new acquisitions, to productivity-enhancing software to help retail workers stay on top of their daily tasks and prevent customer "walk-outs", physical security solutions and beyond – the company is pursuing a dedicated strategy to transform the technology that powers the retail sector.

Speaking to TechDay, Daniel Leppos, Motorola Sales Director for ANZ and Pacific Islands, said the company's focus in recent years has been to build and connect technologies that help to unify public safety and enterprise organisations, a development that brings strong benefits to retail.

"Historically, you would think of frontline workers as being public safety officials – police, paramedics and firefighters – but when you look closer, retail workers are at the coal face too, and they have similar needs for technology that can help them work more productively while keeping themselves and shoppers safe," he said.

"Our ecosystem of connected technologies spans voice communication, software and video security; and all three of those core platforms can make a big difference in retail."

Leppos pointed to the company's acquisition of Theatro in March this year as a clear example of Motorola Solutions' strategy to drive innovation in retail. The maker of AI- and voice-powered communication and digital workflow software for frontline workers provides a suite of collaboration applications that deliver information in real time to help improve productivity and physical safety for workers.

One of Theatro's solutions is a voice-activated AI device that can be worn by retail workers and operates over in-store Wi-Fi. The device integrates with back-end systems and enables workers to quickly check inventory levels or query back-end policies to guide fast and effective customer service measures.

"So imagine a retail worker pressing a button on this device to ask 'what's our store's policy for dealing with a spill or how to clean up damaged or broken products?' or 'can I get this shoe in a different style, size or colour?'.

"It delivers assistive AI to frontline workers when and where they need it, helping them to deliver better customer service which translates into more sales," he said.

In 2024, Motorola Solutions bolstered its offering for the retail sector with the acquisition of Noggin, a global provider of cloud-based business continuity planning, operational resilience and critical event management (CEM) software headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Noggin serves a number of retail customers globally, providing software that helps enterprises to anticipate, prepare for and efficiently respond to incidents. With a single, easy-to-use interface, Noggin's software enables response teams to communicate directly, follow unified procedures and view the same operating picture during everyday incidents or emergencies.

Safety solutions for retail

Safety and security technology have been central to Motorola Solutions' innovations throughout the company's history, and Leppos says these solutions remain fundamental in retail settings.

Motorola Solutions examined the scale of challenges facing the retail sector in its 2024 retail safety survey.

"We found that one in three frontline retail workers has considered quitting their job because they feel unsafe. Yet, more than half of our survey respondents also told us that wearing body cameras could help them to feel safer because it's a technology that actually helps to deter abuse or even assault," Leppos said.

Major retailers in Australia have started deploying body cameras including Motorola Solutions' new V200, helping to increase awareness and accountability in interactions between workers and shoppers on the floor.

The camera, designed for enterprise use, integrates with broader incident management platforms. It can record video up to two minutes before and after activation, and can be configured to capture audio recordings. Footage from the cameras is stored securely and made accessible to managers in real time, helping to capture evidence, support incident investigations or simply document opportunities for process improvements.

"When an incident happens, it's all about communication," Leppos said. "By sending real-time footage and audio directly to a control room, you're able to bring more people into the picture about what's happening on the ground. That leads to better-informed decisions on how to respond in the moment while providing valuable data and learnings for organisations so they can decide where to place their resources in the future."

Leppos said that while all of Motorola Solutions' voice, video and software technologies can support retailers in delivering better outcomes, ever-greater benefits come from integrating these technologies together.

"When you walk into a major retail store and see the discreet use of radio devices, video security to maintain visibility inside and outside of the trading environment and software to help frontline workers, you know that valuable data is being generated. That data makes a fundamental difference when help is needed in response to an incident, or when you're seeking to provide the best possible customer service."

To extend the reach of its deployments, Motorola Solutions' channel network and train-the-trainer programs scale up to serve the needs of large retail networks. This helps to ensure retail staff understand how to operate their devices, manage their data, and stay compliant with industry regulations.

Motorola Solutions sees similar applications for its technology in other sectors, too.

"For example, universities, stadiums, airports and hospitals are other areas where large flows of people create the need for better coordination among frontline teams as well as better security to protect against potential risks."
These "Campus-based deployments" are already emerging," Leppos said.

Meanwhile in Asia, the market dynamics are a little different, Leppos said. Productivity is the main driver of technology adoption. "Australia invests in both safety and productivity. In Asia, it's more about getting that higher level of operations efficiency. But demand for our solutions is growing across different sectors including hospitality, logistics, and campus security."

"We've always been rooted in radio communications," Leppos said. "Now, we're investing heavily in video security, software, AI and IoT – all of which produces data that can be integrated and delivered to a central point such as a command centre. That's the key – to making workplaces safer and more productive in the future and where retailers stand to gain considerable advantages."