Saying Walmart is the biggest IT investor in retail might raise a few eyebrows, but most people would likely shrug their shoulders and respond with "well that makes sense." But according to the latest research from IDC, Walmart is not only the biggest IT spender in retail but the biggest investor in IT across industries worldwide.
The IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark showed us that consumers are flocking to their computers and mobile devices to buy, browse and research. This all sounds great but, here is the challenge - at the same time their attention spans are at an all-time low. So, what does this mean for marketers and retailers?
As 2015 approached, rather than speculate what top retailers will focus on, Boston Retail Partners asked them about their priorities in a series of surveys over the past year. The overall theme concentrates on enhancing the customer experience by expanding store technology, improving assortments and offering unified commerce experience.
Collaboration among private-label partners has never been more important, and recent research suggests that in addition to improving organization, communication, safety and compliance, better collaboration among private-label stakeholders can also lead to improved production and cost efficiencies.
Companies across all industries depend more and more on analytics and insights to run their businesses profitably. But, attracting, managing and retaining talented personnel to execute on those strategies remains a challenge.
Retailers generally have a reputation for being slow to embrace the latest innovations in technology. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the retail industry as a whole spends far less on technology than nearly all other service sectors.
Building true omnichannel merchandising capabilities requires the merging of previously siloed business functions. Footwear retailer Aerosoles has been omnichannel for about 10 years now, however, over the past 18 months the organization has decided to step up to manage the business properly.
At the beginning of 2013, Williams-Sonoma outlined four key areas of focus: strengthening its brands, laying the foundation for global expansion, investing in supply chain and investing in the technologies and infrastructure that underlay all these initiatives.
