In retail, every second impacts customer satisfaction, brand experience and overall productivity. Associates need quick access to inventory apps to assist customers. Store managers need real-time reporting tools to identify inefficiencies. IT admins need a way to quickly set up devices used by seasonal staff.
Each role has unique needs, which need to be reflected on mobile devices. When those devices are shared across multiple roles and responsibilities, it becomes challenging to deliver fast, consistent and secure experiences at scale.
That’s where SOTI ONE Lockdown elevates your retail operations. By delivering tailored, role-based retail device lockdown experiences, you can keep your workforce productive and devices secure.
The Benefits of Role-Based Lockdown: Tailor Profiles to Any Persona
A large retailer with stores across the country needs a diverse workforce: seasonal hires during peak shopping periods, full-time associates and store managers. Different roles demand different tools, and their device profiles can match those specific needs with role-based device management.
With SOTI ONE Lockdown, IT admins can easily design custom Home screens for every role without needing technical expertise. For this retailer, each role benefits greatly from a tailored lockdown experience:
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Store Managers: This profile would consist of reporting, scheduling and HR tools that give managers the ability to oversee staff, track performance and make informed decisions.
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Store Associates: With most of their time spent on the sales floor, these employees need inventory and order management tools to quickly check stock, process orders and answer customer questions. This streamlined experience allows associates to deliver fast, exceptional service.
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Seasonal Associates: As these employees are needed during peak periods, quick onboarding is critical. However, because they often aren’t given a permanent login profile, their lockdown profiles are designed for temporary but secure access to the apps used by Store Associates. This allows them to immediately start supporting customers without a full credential setup process.
These profiles are deployed remotely, giving IT clear visibility into deployment status, profile compliance and device state, while ensuring consistency across thousands of devices and locations. This prevents the need for manual intervention or deployment, which means simplified IT management.
Unlock Seamless Access with NFC and QR + PIN
Shared device management in retail is popular, because it reduces the number of devices needed across the entire business. It also means employees must log in every single time they use a device. In a fast-paced retail environment, logging in needs to be quick, but typing too fast can result in the wrong password. Get it wrong one too many times, and now you’re locked out. Unfortunately, the only way to regain access is by opening an IT ticket, which means being unable to help customers in the meantime.
Lockdown supports fast authentication using two methods: SOTI Identity users authenticate with an NFC tag, while Microsoft Entra ID users authenticate using a QR code + PIN. After a successful login, users can securely unlock the device with an NFC tag or PIN to jump back into their session without re‑entering full credentials. This keeps workers signed in and devices protected when unattended, allowing them to serve customers quickly. For seasonal staff without permanent Entra ID accounts, NFC‑based enrollment and sign‑in provides a simple, secure way to get started quickly.
Looking to Enhance Operational Security?
Retail environments face unique security challenges: shared devices, multiple user roles, and the risk of lost or misplaced devices. That’s why reliable retail mobility security solutions are essential for enhancing data integrity and workflow efficiency.
Lockdown addresses these concerns with Conditional Lockdown, which refers to the enforcement of automatic restrictions based on predefined conditions. This helps organizations reduce risk and secure shared devices for the retail workforce without manual intervention.
For example:
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Geofence Lockdown: If a device leaves the store premises – whether an employee forgets it’s in their pocket at the end of a shift or a customer steals it – access to apps and data is instantly restricted, preventing misuse or data leaks. With one in every five lost phones resulting in a data breach, this feature is needed more than ever.
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Low Battery Lockdown: Lockdown is activated when a device’s battery drops below a critical threshold. This makes sure devices are immediately secured if they are about to power off and are at-risk of being lost.
Understand Your Device Fleet Better with the SOTI ONE Lockdown Analytics Dashboard
Lockdown goes beyond app restrictions to deliver operational intelligence that helps retailers understand how devices are truly being used. The SOTI ONE Lockdown Analytics dashboard unlocks insights into device performance, app usage, login patterns and the triggers behind lockdown events, such as geofence exits or low battery levels.
Having access to this information reveals trends – like how fast login methods or unpreferred login methods aren’t leveraged within select stores – which can indicate productivity issues or workflow gaps. By combining security with actionable visibility, IT teams can fine-tune configurations, ensure roles have the right tools, and keep devices secure, efficient, and aligned with operational needs.
Ready to Elevate Your Retail Device Management?
Retail success depends on speed, security and simplicity. SOTI ONE Lockdown delivers all three with custom device experiences, streamlined authentication and operational insights. It also ensures secure shared devices for the retail workforce, keeping every device efficient and ready for business.
Learn more about what SOTI ONE Lockdown can do for you by booking a discovery demo or reach out to us today:
* SOTI XSight Live View – Patent Pending
