Over two thirds of retail executives polled by JDA Software Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) state they intend to increase their technology investments to boost their customer experience.
The study, which spanned over 350 CEOs from the retail and consumer goods space, found that for mortar and bricks implementations, nearly four in five (79%) main execs have spent in smart mobile devices for employees in shop, while beacons (76%) and clienteling (76 percent) — using data to enhance long-term relationships with clients — were also frequently cited.
Go out and about, however, and further investments are being made, from big data, mentioned by 86 percent of respondents, to mobile-enabled applications (85 percent) and social media (85 percent). Considering that the maturity and near ubiquity of such technologies it’s perhaps a surprise that the numbers are not completely saturated — yet the Internet of Things (IoT) and automation are still bubbling under.
There are various areas. The fear of things being from stock is the principal concern for more than a third (37 percent) of retailers concerning the supply chain, whereas more than half (57 percent) said they will plan to increase charges for online orders.
“We have seen unprecedented change sweeping the retail industry that continues in earnest as merchants reimagine their strategies to transform the customer experience, which makes it cohesive and smooth, however they shop,” explained Lee Gill, JDA group vice president of global retail strategy. “Supply chain complexities and price will continue to challenge retailers, and the gap between winners and non-winners will be how much, or how little, retailers understand their customers moving ahead.”
The portents for IoT technologies influencing the future of retail are evident. According to some 2015 report by Juniper Research predicted retailers are set to invest $2.5 billion on the Internet of Things by 2020, even though a research paper released by this publication and Digimarc annually argued that programmers and brands “need to think further ahead, assess requirements and truly think about the effect on consumers for the possibility of a connected world to be fully realised.”
