• by Chase Martin , July 14, 2016

Consumers can expect to see more of the impact of the Internet of Things in consumer electronics and at retail.

Those are among the findings in a new global study looking at the level of payback from IoT projects.

More than three quarters (76%) of businesses say IoT will be critical to their success in the future, according to the annual IoT Barometer study from Vodafone. The study found that 63% of businesses plan to implement IoT technologies within the next year.

Consumer electronics companies were most likely to have clear targets in mind for their IoT initiatives, with almost all (88%) in that category.

The advanced consumer electronics initiatives were due to their participation in areas such as the smart home, where cross-company collaboration is fundamental, according to the study.

The study found that small IoT projects can perform well, citing as an example a retailer with 500 digital signs driving increasing sales through real-time promotions. “The quantity of connections may be low, but the impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of a business process could be tremendous,” states the report.

The study, based on 1,100 interviews with business decision-makers, found that although the return is different by nature at every stage and scale of deployment, there always seems to be strong return associated with utilizing IoT technologies.

Here is a breakdown of the size of return and IoT deployment scope:

• 55% - IoT projects with fewer than 100 connected devices
• 68% - IoT projects with 101-500 connected devices
• 70% - IoT projects with 501-1,000 connected devices
• 60% - IoT projects with more than 1,001 connected devices

Technology departments seem to be taking note as well. The portion of spending allocated to IoT has now surpassed that of mobile with IoT spending accumulating nearly a quarter (24%) of tech budgets, the study found.

The returns on investment differ by market. Here is the regional breakdown of markets:

• 53% - seeing significant ROI in Americas
• 63% - seeing significant ROI in EMEA
• 70% - seeing significant ROI in APAC

While 25% of organizations using IoT technologies have fewer than 100 connected devices, 10% of those using IoT have more than 10,000.

In the end, it appears that many customers will be the beneficiaries of IoT business projects.

While a logical focus for business use of connected technologies is operational efficiency, the study found that 44% of those using IoT across their business cited customer experience as the largest benefit.