Radial：2018-2019年零售技術報告（英文版）（6頁）.pdf

1、The 2018-2019 Retail Technology Report: An Analysis of Trends, Buying Behaviors and Future Opportunities Gain 17% higher customer satisfaction with Radial Customer Care Achieve a 30% higher customer lifetime value with Radial Omnichannel Technology Fulfill orders faster with dynamic Order Management

2、 Increase shipping speeds and decrease cart abandonment with Radial Fulfillment POS system (49 percent); analytics (45 percent); and inventory management software (44 percent). Whats perhaps most interesting about this chart, however, is the low levels of adoption among retailers of some of the most

3、 buzzed about emerging technologies. For example, virtual and augmented reality is being used currently by just 6 percent of respondents, the same percentage that are using voice commerce. There is a slight bump in usage of AI (10 percent) and IoT (14 percent), but to date the hype surrounding emerg

4、ing tech such as these has exceeded adoption levels. Why? For most retailers, any technology invest- ment comes down to ROI. They want to see proven, quantifiable results before taking the plunge and investing significant dollars. As technologies such as AI and voice commerce become more mainstream,

5、 and their impact to retailers bottom lines proven, expect to see these numbers to increase. 5 What technologies will be seeing the biggest increase in retailer spending in 2019? Conversely, which will see the biggest decrease? Much like our first chart, retailers indicated that they would be devot-

6、 ing more budget in 2019 to established technology solutions. The growth of e-commerce, including mobile, has retailers attention, and as such thats where they plan to increase investments. Nearly half of respondents plan to increase tech spending on their e-commerce platform (49 percent) and mobile

7、 website (46 percent). In their quest to develop one-to-one relationships with their customers, which in turn begets better ex- periences and, ultimately, long-term loyalty, retailers are turning to technology for help. Consider that 33 percent of respondents plan to increase spending on their CRM p

8、latform in the next 12 months, and 31 percent will be upping their budget on personalization solutions. On the flip side, retailers indicated theyre most likely to cut spending on drones (7 percent said theyre decreasing spending on the technology) and other types of emerging technology, including v

9、irtual and augmented reality, 3-D printing, and voice search (all 6 percent). For the vast majority of technologies listed, retailer spending year-over-year will remain flat. This likely means one of two things: the retailer has yet to invest any money into that technology and doesnt plan to do so w

10、ithin the next 12 months, or it doesnt have enough data to justify increasing or de- creasing spending at this time. 6 Inaction is the story here. When asked to choose up to three emerging technologies that theyre not currently investing in but plan to do so in the next 12 months, the clear winner a

11、mong respondents was “none.” Whether thats an indictment on their lack of confidence in the technologies to positively impact their businesses or just a sign that retailers have limited funds to spend on new technology or perhaps both remains to be seen. Are retailers missing an opportunity by not b

12、eing early adopters of emerging technology? Its difficult to calculate the opportunity cost of being late to the party, so to speak, but the dynamic exists. Think about the growth of mobile commerce. If your website isnt yet optimized for mobile shoppers, its missing out on significant potential rev

13、enue. Whats the next technology thats going to disrupt the retail industry? Figure 5 below provides some insight into what retailers are betting on. Retailers are more likely to invest in technology that customers can interact with both in-store and online during their purchase journeys than they ar

14、e back-end solutions that operate in “somewhat” obscurity. This chart tells us that retailers are prioritizing the customer experience above all else. Todays con- sumers have high expectations for every touchpoint they interact with retailers in, and they view tech- nology as a tool to help make the

15、 shopping experience quicker, easier and more enjoyable. Brands recognize these demands, and are implementing solutions to meet them. 7 Thats not to say that retailers dont value back-end technology systems. From inventory management systems that ensure the right amount of inventory is in the right

16、places at the right times, to security/ fraud prevention software that keeps customers data safe, and more, behind-the-scenes technology systems can have as big as if not bigger impact on customer experience and customer satisfaction. The key is to identify the technology that matters to your custom

17、ers experiences, and then invest in it. While retailers have demonstrated a cautious approach when it comes to adoption of new technology, one such tech that has piqued their interest is AI. Likely due to its multiple potential applications for a retail organization e.g., personalized marketing, inv

18、entory management, logistics, customer service, etc. AI was far and away the most popular choice when retailers were asked, “Thinking about the retail industry as a whole, which emerging technology do you believe will have the biggest impact in 2019?” 8 The impact of AI is already being felt, and fi

19、gures to only grow. Business Insider Intelligence projects that AI will boost profitability in retail and wholesale by nearly 60 percent by 2035. This is a case where retailers would be wise to adopt AI technology into their businesses now, avoiding the risk of being left behind when the technology

20、becomes more mainstream. There are three departments that are the primary decision makers within retail organizations for tech- nology buying: general management/C-suite; information technology (IT); and marketing. This mirrors the results from last years survey, although the order was slightly diff

21、erent IT was ranked No. 1 as having the most significant involvement in the technology buying process; this year general manage- ment took the top spot. In todays omnichannel retail environment, in which consumers are shifting between channels, often in the same purchase journey, collaboration betwe

22、en departments is essential to success. Holistic data and technology systems are necessary to create the seamless shopping experiences customers have come to expect. It therefore makes sense that theres collaboration between departments when mak- ing technology buying decisions. Teams no longer work

23、 in a vacuum. For example, marketing and merchandising teams need to work hand-in-hand to ensure the right products are being promoted at the right prices to the right people at the right times in the right channels. And IT is managing the technology systems enabling that col- laboration to happen.

24、Before making technology buying decisions, evaluate the impact such purchas- es will have across your organization and solicit feedback from team leaders in each department that will be impacted. 9 Eighty percent of respondents said theyre making moderate to major technology purchases in less than a

25、 year, with one-third taking between three months to six months. This chart is a testament to the speed at which the retail industry is evolving, particularly online. In order to keep pace with innovative, digital-native brands, including A, traditional brick-and- mortar retailers have had to embrac

26、e change and do so quickly. This extends to their technology buying processes. Retailers are no longer afforded the luxury of an extended vetting process when buying technology. Their growing sets of competitors are introducing game-changing technologies on a continual basis, and in order to keep up

27、 decisions must be made swiftly. Wait and your competitors will pass you by. 10 Operating a retail business has become much more complex in recent years as consumer behaviors change, new technologies enter the marketplace, more data (customer, product, competitor) is collect- ed than ever before, am

28、ong a host of other variables. This complexity extends to purchasing technology. When making a significant financial investment such as a moderate to major technology buy, its re- quired that you do your due diligence and properly vet the service providers youre potentially going to partner with. Th

29、at involves product demos, site visits, talking to current clients, pilot programs, etc. As you can see, the process can take some time. Therefore, its important that you identify a manageable number of potential partners ideally, best-of-breed providers before beginning the vetting process. Accordi

30、ng to our survey, retailers believe that manageable number is between two to five service pro- viders. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said that when evaluating a moderate to major technology purchase at their company, they consider between two to five service providers. 11 How are retailers lear

31、ning about all of the new technologies that are being developed? Theyre doing the work themselves. When asked how their organization most often discovers new technology, 67 percent of respondents cited self-driven research. Theres a steep drop-off between the top three choices (self-driven research,

32、 networking/word-of-mouth, trade shows) and the other answer options. Whats frequently most valuable for retail execs when learning about new technology solutions is to speak to a peer that has implemented the technology at their company. What was the implementa- tion process like? How is the compan

33、y using the technology? How does it integrate with other tech- nology solutions? What challenges have come up? What are the benefits the company has realized since rolling out the technology? These are just some of the self-driven research questions that retail- ers should be asking themselves when

34、learning about new technology. 12 At the end of the day, it all comes down to the impact on the bottom line. That was the key learning when retailers were asked to identify the two metrics that were most important to the evaluation pro- cess for a technology investment. As one might expect, increase

35、d revenues was the top choice among respondents, with 57 percent naming it as their most important metric. Not far behind was cost savings (40 percent). Retailers have cited ROI as the driving force behind their technology investments, and this chart bears that out. Its a bit surprising that increas

36、ed customer retention/loyalty didnt rank higher on the list. Considering rising customer acquisition costs and the value in developing long-term relationships with customers that keeps them coming back to your brand to purchase again and again, one might have expected this answer to receive more sup

37、port. 13 METHODOLOGY This online survey was conducted over a four-week period in September 2018 and October 2018. A total of 235 respondents completed the survey. Those respondents comprised a portion of the Total Retail audience, from small and midsize to enterprise organizations. Respondents repre

38、sent- ed a wide variety of retail verticals, including apparel and accessories; consumer electronics; home goods; and more. CONCLUSION A familiar theme emerges upon analysis of the data: retailers are hesitant to go “all in” on new and emerging technologies until real, sustainable, incremental ROI c

39、an be proven. As such, theyre more likely to be currently investing in or earmarking future dollars to established technology solutions that are essential to their survival, including e-commerce platforms, mobile (websites and apps), data ana- lytics, POS systems, and inventory and order management

40、systems. Adoption of emerging technolo- gies, at least so far, hasnt lived up to the buzz theyve received. However, if there were one emerging technology that retailers are willing to bet on, it would be artifi- cial intelligence. The multiple applications for AI within retail marketing and product

41、personalization, customer service, inventory management, logistics and delivery, among others underscore its value to an organization. Its for that reason that respondents overwhelmingly chose AI as the emerging technology that will have the biggest impact on the retail industry in 2019. With regard

42、s to technology buying, the vast majority of retailers are trying to simplify the process by limiting the number of service providers they consider less than five for 95 percent of respondents. Thats not to say that vetting multiple service providers and comparing their strengths and weakness- es ag

43、ainst each other isnt smart it is but the point is to start with a manageable amount. More than five and managing the selection process becomes unwieldy at best. Furthermore, retailers are making these high-leverage decisions (i.e., expensive) in a rather short amount of time. Most respondents (56 p

44、ercent) said theyre making moderate to major technol- ogy purchase decisions in less than six months. Considering how rapidly the retail industry, and e-commerce in particular, is evolving, perhaps that relatively short amount of time shouldnt be that surprising. Lastly, retailers are looking to the

45、ir bottom lines when evaluating technology investments. Increased revenues and cost savings were named as the top two metrics most important to the evaluation pro- cess, easily ahead of the third choice, efficiency gains. For the executives making technology buying decisions within retail organizati

46、ons C-suite, IT, Marketing ROI is the ultimate determinant. 14 Total Retail is the go-to source for retail executives looking for the latest news and analysis on the retail industry. Featuring a daily e-newsletter (Total Retail Report), robust website, virtual and live events, comprehensive research

47、 reports, podcast channel, and more, Total Retail offers retail executives the information they need to do their jobs more effectively and grow their professional careers. Visit myTotalR. Radial Inc., a bpost group company, is the leader in omnichannel commerce technology and operations, enabling br

48、ands and retailers to profitably exceed retail customer expectations. Radials technical, powerful omnichannel solutions connect supply and demand through efficient fulfillment and transportation options, intelligent fraud detection, payments, and tax systems, and personalized customer care services.

49、 Hundreds of retailers and brands confidently partner with Radial to simplify their post-click commerce and improve their customer experiences. Radial brings flexibility and scalability to their supply chains and optimizes how, when and where orders go from desire to delivery. Learn more at R. NAPCO Media. Total Retails parent company, is a leading B-to-B media company specializing in creating community through content via integrated media programs, video services, marketing services, events and event manag