The devices that power your frontline are the heart of your operations. Your Zebra scanners, printers, and mobile computers function as the critical link between your physical and digital worlds.
Picture this: it is the peak of the holiday shopping season. Every register has a long line, associates race to fulfill online orders, and the stockroom buzzes with activity. Suddenly, a handheld scanner in a key department stops working. The frontline associate feels stranded.
The first half of 2026 has been a period of rapid technological evolution, but our core mission at Zebra remains unchanged: ensuring that every frontline worker is visible, connected, and fully optimized.
The modern retail environment presents a persistent challenge: a gap between what happens at the point of sale and what store associates actually do.
The Wall Street Journal recently recognized Zebra Technologies as a global Top 10 company for AI Readiness. Earning a spot next to major tech innovators validates our strategic focus on AI for the frontline of business.
Inside a bustling food and beverage facility, the smooth movement of materials dictates the pace of production. Any delay in getting raw ingredients to the line or moving finished goods to the warehouse creates a bottleneck.
Zebra's Channel Partner Summit provides a vital opportunity to connect with the partners who help us deliver solutions to our customers every day. This year’s conversations centered on Winning Together.
In the fast-paced world of retail, your team relies on a growing arsenal of mobile devices. Handheld computers manage inventory in the aisle, tablets process sales from anywhere on the floor, and wearables keep associates connected and informed.
As leaders, we constantly pursue new ways to improve operational efficiency and empower our people. We invest in digital tools to make work simpler and more productive. Yet, when I connect with frontline workers in retail, logistics, and manufacturing, I often witness a disconnect between our intentions and their reality.
Retail associates often face overwhelming app fatigue. Disjointed communication tools and isolated point solution applications cause unnecessary friction during their daily shifts.
The manufacturing landscape across the Asia Pacific region faces a profound operational shift. As organizations digitize their factory floors and supply chains, they encounter a critical intersection of human workforce dynamics and technological advancement.
Retailers today navigate a fiercely competitive environment. Consumers expect, and demand, seamlessly connected shopping experiences, whether they shop online or in-store.
In my years leading technology and product teams, I have witnessed a fundamental shift in how businesses operate. The frontline, once disconnected from the digital core, now stands as the epicenter of value creation.
The retail landscape continues its rapid evolution, especially across the Asia Pacific region. Today’s shoppers enter stores with high expectations for a digitally enhanced journey.
Retail has always fascinated me. It’s a dynamic industry that demands constant attention to detail, an ability to adapt, and a focus on solving problems that can threaten both profits and customer trust.
Working in retail today is more challenging than ever. The pressure on frontline workers has reached unprecedented levels, with 59% of them considering quitting their jobs in the past year alone.
In the dynamic world of frontline operations, the spotlight has been on optimizing workflows through Asset Visibility, a critical pillar of operational intelligence discussed in my previous blog post.
In retail, every second counts. Shoppers expect fast, seamless experiences, whether browsing in-store or picking up an online order. At the same time, retailers must juggle the complexities of managing inventory, communicating with teams, and responding to ever-changing customer needs. It’s not easy. But with the right tools, it’s possible to make things easier for everyone.
I’ve spent over four decades working on technology solutions that support businesses, and I can confidently say there’s never been a more exciting or challenging time to innovate for the frontline. Recently, I joined a webinar with guest speaker Denise Lund, Research Vice President, Worldwide Telecom and Unified Communications at IDC and my Zebra colleague Bethany Wiegand. The discussion centered on the mounting pressures of the retail frontline and how Unified Communication and Collaboration (UC&C) solutions, like Zebra Workcloud Sync, are stepping in to help.
Frontline workers are the backbone of retail operations, yet their challenges often go unnoticed. From juggling demanding schedules to managing inventory discrepancies and navigating volatile pricing environments, the frontline faces significant hurdles daily. We offer solutions designed to address these pain points head-on. Through Workcloud Shift, Workcloud Inventory Visibility, and Workcloud Lifecycle Pricing, we are transforming how frontline workers do their jobs, fostering connected collaboration, and driving operational excellence.
In the ever-evolving landscape of intelligent automation and manufacturing, smart cameras have emerged as pivotal tools transforming machine vision technology. With advancements in edge processing and seamless integration capabilities, these devices are redefining the way industries approach efficiency and precision. As manufacturers, logistics operators, and warehouse professionals seek to optimize operations, smart cameras offer a promising solution for intelligent automation. By delivering real-time insights, and automated decision-making capabilities, robust, scalable, and adaptable smart cameras are ideal for a diverse range of industrial applications.
Retail operations generate vast amounts of data every day. This data, which includes sales transactions, inventory levels, customer interactions, and employee actions, holds the key to understanding and resolving operational issues. However, traditional data analysis methods often fall short, struggling to address the multi-step nature of many retail problems.
As Zebra rolls out its refreshed brand, I realize how privileged our role is as Independent Software Vendors in applying this new messaging around mobile devices.
In today’s fast-paced industries, ranging from logistics to retail and manufacturing, the need for precision, efficiency, and real-time visibility into assets has become a critical factor for success. Organizations under constant pressure to streamline operations want to cut costs and maintain agility, making it essential to adopt tools that enhance productivity and simplify complex workflows.
There's new AI touchscreen SigmaSense that's making it easier for frontline workers to use rugged tablets in the field, in freezing conditions, and when water gets on the screen. Hear how it works and see it in action.