retail tech adoption
DESCRIPTION
What’s keeping retailers awake at night when it comes to their technology?TRANSCRIPT
Retail Sector Technology Adoption Trends
Research Briefing | July 16, 2012
Why | What | How Much | Where
The Retail Sector: Then
1998 SalesWal-Mart $118.0
billion
Sears
$41.5 billion
Kmart $32.2
billion
Amazon $0.65
billion
1998 Household Ownership
Computer 42%
Cell phone 36%
Internet 26%
1998 PaymentsCash and checks account for 70% - 75% of customer transactions
The Retail Sector: Now
More Options
More Information
More Moving Parts
What’s Keeping Retailers Awake at Night?
Finding/implementing more effective marketing strategies
Reducing costs/overhead
Improving staff productivity and capabilities
Better leveraging technology to improve customer engagement and sales efficiency
Need to enhance or refresh product lines
1
2
3
4
5
Top 5 Priorities
What is Showrooming?
Showrooming: the practice of consumers visiting a physical retail store to assess a product (aka visiting a showroom) before making the purchase online to get the lowest possible price.
A NET 42% of retailers express concern about the growing practice of showrooming
Rating of Importance Today The Conundrum
• Despite growing importance, the majority of retailers acknowledge the need for improvement in utilizing technology.
• As a sector, retail spends relatively less on technology compared to other industries such as finance or media/entertainment. That may be changing slightly though…
• The retailers in this study indicate they plan to increase their spending on IT by an average of 4.2% year on year.
21%37%
0.36
NET Unimportant
NET Important
Neutral
Very Important
Important
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Importance of Technology to Retailer Success Trends Upward, But…
Technologies in Place at Retailers OverallMicro
RetailersSmall
RetailersMedium Retailers
Large Retailers
Desktop or laptop PC 93% 92% 92% 95% 92%
Multi-function Printer 82% 83% 81% 80% 85%
Broadband (aka high speed Internet) 72% 70% 77% 71% 67%
Data back-up (on-site or online) 67% 56% 73% 66% 78%
Network (LAN, WAN) 59% 40% 62% 66% 85%
WiFi 57% 57% 54% 54% 66%
Smartphone 56% 51% 55% 57% 64%
Inventory management system or application 53% 31% 59% 62% 74%
Customer relationship management (CRM) system or application 34% 17% 35% 45% 59%
Tablet (e.g. iPad, Playbook, etc.) 32% 23% 30% 45% 46%
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Micro retailers = 1-9 staffSmall retailers= 10-99 staffMedium retailers = 100-499 staffLarge retailers = 500+ staff
Covering the IT Basics [Before the Fun Stuff]
And Now for the Fun Stuff
Retailers Begin to Experiment with Digital Signage
Digital Signage Usage and Intent to Adopt OverallMicro
RetailersSmall
RetailersMedium Retailers
Large Retailers
Currently using digital signage in some way 33% 22% 34% 37% 53%
No, but plan to implement soon 22% 13% 27% 34% 22%
No, and no immediate plans to adopt 40% 63% 36% 23% 18%
Don't know 4% 2% 3% 6% 7%
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Micro retailers = 1-9 staffSmall retailers= 10-99 staffMedium retailers = 100-499 staffLarge retailers = 500+ staff
Retailer Interest in Digital Signage Uses/Capabilities
% Digital Signage Use or Capability
71% Sales or promotional announcements
46% Photo display (e.g. images of customers using various products)
38% Custom videos (e.g. tutorials, advice, customer testimonials, etc.)
35% Internet connectivity to display things such as your business website, Facebook, YouTube or other online content
31% Real-time product info (e.g. inventory quantities, product shipment dates, etc.)
30% Entertainment (e.g. TV or movie) to keep kids or others occupied while parents shop
30% Touch screen display that allows customers to directly engage with the display
25% Product reviews from customers or third parties (e.g. Consumer Reports, Amazon, etc.)
18% App-enabled (could run apps on the display similar to apps found on tablets or smartphones)
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Mobile checkout via payment-enabled smartphones or tablets
Self-service, in-store kiosk
Direct sales via a third party website, i.e. eBay, Amazon, Etsy
Alternative POS payment processing, i.e. Square, PayPal
Accept orders via website_x000d_ that are processed offline
Direct sales via own website, using online processing and payment
19%
15%
15%
17%
18%
20%
13%
19%
24%
30%
45%
47%
Currently In Place
Plan to Deploy/ Adopt
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Many Retailers Still in the Process of Embracing E-Commerce & Emerging Payment Technologies
Social coupon initiative,_x000d_e.g. Groupon
Geo-location initiative,_x000d_ e.g. Foursquare
QR codes used in_x000d_ marketing material
Blog geared towards_x000d_ customer engagement
Digital customer loyalty_x000d_ program (app-based)
Email-based marketing campaigns
Facebook page geared toward customer engagement
24%
28%
26%
23%
27%
20%
15%
18%
21%
25%
30%
31%
62%
65%
Currently Utilizing
Planning to Use
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Retailers Rely Heavily on Email and Facebook for Customer Engagement
Incidence of Use
42%
37%
21%
Yes, currently using
No, but planning to start using
No, and no immediate
plans to start using
58% Email marketing campaign effectiveness
55% Optimizing inventory replenishment
54% Merchandising optimization (e.g. store
layout)
54% Customer profiling and purchase patterns
50% Forecasting
46% Website traffic patterns
46% Social media monitoring
45% Smart recommendations
42% Optimizing markdowns and discounts
Areas of Interest in Applying Data Analytics / BI Tools
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Data Analytics and Business Intelligence Tools Change the Retailer-Customer Relationship
Connecting the Dots: The Role of IT Solution Providers
IT Purchase Channels OverallMicro
RetailersSmall
RetailersMedium Retailers
Large Retailers
Local electronics/computer retailer (e.g. Best Buy, Office Depot, Apple Store, Verizon Store, etc.) 43% 57% 50% 30% 13%
Direct from an IT hardware or software vendor(e.g. Dell, Salesforce.com, Oracle, IBM, etc.) 31% 19% 29% 44% 49%
Online electronics/computer retailer (e.g. Amazon, CDW, etc.) 28% 36% 28% 28% 15%
Purchased through an IT solution provider, VAR or tech consultant 22% 10% 24% 39% 32%
Local general retailer (e.g. Wal-Mart, Target, etc.) 22% 27% 20% 20% 18%
Purchased through a business consultant 11% 10% 11% 9% 13%
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
Where Retailers Purchase IT Products
Cloud computing initiative
Audio/Video related
Mobile app development
Telecom or communications related
Cybersecurity related
General IT consulting / advisory services
Deployment, installation or_x000d_ integration of IT systems
Web design
Repair or troubleshooting IT problems
7%
13%
14%
19%
23%
29%
40%
48%
74%
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 192 U.S. retailers that use IT solution providers (aka outsource IT functions)
Among retailers that do NOT outsource any IT work, the #1 reason for not doing so is satisfaction with their current in-house arrangement.
Types of IT Services Retailers Have UtilizedPast 12 months
Rating of Interest in the Concept of Managed IT Services
17%
28%
18%
0.23
0.08
NET Uninterested
NET Interest
Neutral
Very Interested
Interested
Source: CompTIA’s Retailer Technology Adoption Trends studyBase: 500 U.S. retailers
1. Consistent and reliable IT operations
2. Lower total IT costs
3. More technical expertise
4. Better security / loss prevention
5. Proactive approach to IT fixes, maintenance, etc.
6. Greater staff productivity due to less IT downtime
7. Greater capacity to manage peak busy times (e.g. holiday season)
Aspects of Managed IT Services Most Appealing to Retailers
26%
40%
Managed Services Meet Retailers’ Need for More Consistent and Reliable IT Operations
Reminders
The full report can be found in the member-only area of CompTIA.org (aka MRC)http://www.comptia.org/members/research/allreports/RetailSectorTechAdoption.aspx
Solution provider members can share the report with their retail customers or prospects as a means to facilitate ‘trusted advisor’ discussions
Vendor and distributor members may share the report with their channel partners (note: as long as they do not post it openly on a public website)
Beyond members, feel free to share the report with prospects, partners or other strategic stakeholders. Research is meant to be shared!
com
ptia
.org
Want to know more?
As the voice of the IT industry, CompTIA has hundreds of tools, market intelligence reports and training programs to help IT channel organizations grow their business through education, certification, advocacy and philanthropy.
Check it out at www.comptia.org.