What Is Smart Data Capture?
Smart data capture is the ability to capture data intelligently from barcodes, text, IDs and objects. It enables real-time decision-making, engagement, and workflow automation at scale.
What makes data capture smart?
In their personal lives, everyone has data at their fingertips in one device all day, every day. Smart data capture (also known as automated data capture or intelligent data capture) empowers businesses to capture and access real-time data in new ways.
Adaptable and flexible
Deploy into any ecosystem or application, leveraging any smart device with a camera.
Actionable intelligence
Get real-time data into the right hands to make smarter and faster decisions.
Cost-efficient scalability
Create scalable and agile operations that meet new demands while balancing costs.
Why is smart data capture important?
Capture value, not just data. Smart data capture transforms the way employees work, taking customer experiences to new levels and delivering superior business outcomes.
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For workers
Intelligent data capture unburdens employees from manual, scan-intensive and repetitive tasks.
- Perform multiple and varied operational tasks with one smart device.
- Empower workers with the right tools and real-time data to make decisions on-the-spot and perform with speed, intelligence and accuracy.
- Improve user experience and employee satisfaction.
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For customers
Bring the digital world into physical environments to create connected, differentiated experiences.
- Exceed customer expectations with future-proofed approaches that enable new offerings to be rolled out fast.
- Leverage intelligent data capture to allow customers to skip queues, such as mobile self-scanning or self-check in.
- Provide access to product information or personalized offers to boost engagement.
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For businesses
Automated data capture re-engineers and future-proofs end-to-end processes to reduce cost, time and human error.
- Turn low-cost or worker-owned devices into high-performance tools to scale operations quickly without major investment.
- Enhance decision-making by capturing and aggregating data from multiple sources and locations.
- Supports any stage of digital transformation and provides a platform for continuous innovation.
Why is smart data capture transformative?
Smart data capture technology increases resilence and agility, and navigates macro-trends such as changing employee and customer expectations.
46%
46% of workers want the right tools to make jobs easier.
36%
36% of consumers are brand switching.
3%
Poor decision-making costs organizations 3% of profits.
How Smart Data Capture Builds Resilience at the Frontline
By using smart data capture to digitize previously unreachable manual processes at the edge of organizations, business chiefs can realize untapped value lying right under their noses.
Where and how is smart data capture used?
Examples of how automated data capture is used across a range of different use cases to power employee workflows and customer experiences.
Retail
Automate shelf management and order fulfillment. Transform CX with personalized mobile shopping.
Post, Parcel & Express
Fast-track workflows and rapidly scale operations by optimizing loading, search-and-find and PUDO.
Air Travel
Streamline passenger processing with boarding pass scanning, instant baggage search and contactless check-in.
Manufacturing
Make operations more efficient by automating reordering, inventory management and parts tracking.
Field Service
Speed up inventory counts and quickly identify the right part out of many to improve first-time fix rates.
Other Industries
Improve efficiency and boost revenue in supply chain, technology, healthcare, mobile banking, and more.
Smart data capture insights and resources
Capture Value, Not Data: The Smart Data Capture Manifesto
The 9 smart data capture principles you need to unlock the next level of business efficiency, customer and employee experience.
What Is Data Democratization?
Learn the benefits, challenges, and strategies of data democratization to enhance decision-making and operations in your organization.
Watch Out for These Data Capture Trends in 2025
Is the barcode really on its last legs? How is AI changing data capture? Here’s the key data capture trends to look out for in 2025.