Study Shows Digital Transformation is the Future of Retail

A study by IDC Retail Insights reveals that Western European retailers are actively embarking on their digital transformations and creating omni-channel environments.

Systems will need to provide a single view of core order, customer, and inventory data. The report also says best-in-class retailers are working hard to increasingly digitalize physical stores, equipping sales staff with mobile capabilities and replicating personalized online engagements in-store.

In the report, Luca Bonacina, Senior Research Analyst at IDC Retail Insights comments that “As retailers in Europe seek new ways to differentiate themselves from the increasing competition in the region, digital transformation is a train they cannot afford to miss. Today, all the top Western European retailers are in the process of determining how digital impacts them and what their digital transformation approach and strategy should be,”

Ecommerce is a major area of investment and retailers are also looking at mobile commerce as a way of enhancing the customer experience. IDC also notes that fulfilling complex customer order requirements across multiple and different customer touch-points has recently emerged as a challenge for retailers.

Following a recent project to transform their high street stores, Kathryn Ward, Director of Retail and Financial Services for Thomson Holidays said: “The message for retailers is clear: the high street is changing. Shoppers demand experiences that blur online and in-store shopping.”