IT in Retail – Technology Priorities

Retailers will aim to address the following key challenges through IT in 2017: supply chain management efficiencies, offering a superior customer experience across channels, and gaining better insight from existing as well as new data sources. The share of outsourced IT services is growing among retailers, however business-critical functions tend to remain in-house. The right level of outsourcing needs to be individually assessed and balanced with in-house resources and skills

Scope

This report presents the findings from a survey of 152 retailers regarding their Information & Communications Technology (ICT) investment trends. The survey investigates how retailers currently allocate their ICT budgets across the core areas of enterprise ICT expenditure: hardware, software, IT services, communications, and consulting

The report illustrates the core technologies that retailers are investing in, including enterprise applications, business intelligence, internet of things (IoT), and green IT & virtualization. The survey also highlights the approach to purchasing technology adopted by retailers. The report aims to provide a better insight to ICT vendors and service providers when pitching their solutions to retailers

The survey was conducted in H1 2016 via an online methodology, with respondents all having ICT decision maker responsibility (typically CIOs and IT Managers).

In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following:

– How ICT budgets are set to change in 2016 in terms of their overall size

– Allocation across the core elements of IT spend, including hardware, software, services, communications, and consulting

– Which ICT functions retailers are interested in outsourcing

– Retailers’ investment priorities based on their budget allocations across core technology categories such as enterprise applications, business intelligence, green IT & virtualization, and internet of things(IoT)

– Factors that are influencing retailers’ investments in each technology category

– How retailers’ IT budgets are currently allocated across various segments within a technology category

– Retailers’ distribution of their ICT budget across various segments within a technology category

– Vendor satisfaction ratings for various core and advanced technology categories

– Insight into retailers’ preferred buying approaches

– Business and IT objectives that retailers’ are looking to achieve through their IT investment strategies

– Factors that are influencing retailers’ decisions to select an ICT provider

Reasons to Buy

– Understand how the retail sector’s ICT landscape is set to change in 2016 to prioritize your target market

– Comprehend how money are being allocated by retailers in specific geographies and size bands to improve your market penetration

– Make effective business decisions by recognizing the opportunities within each of the core areas of ICT spend (hardware, software, IT services, telecommunications, and consulting)

– Realign your sales initiatives by understanding the current strategic objectives of retailers

– Enhance your market segmentation with the included, detailed breakdown of opportunities within selected technology categories (enterprise applications, business intelligence, green IT & virtualization, and internet of things(IoT))

– Prioritize your focus areas by understanding which factors are influencing retailers’ decisions when selecting an ICT provider

– Understand the changes in customers’ priorities and identify the business and IT objectives that retailers are looking to achieve through their ICT investment strategies