WBR and Panasonic anticipate future challenges for retailers
Retailers facing the challenges of changing shopper habits and falling footfall at brick-and-mortar-stores are looking to innovative technology solutions to drive their businesses in the 2020’s, recent research for Panasonic Business indicates.
WBR Insights and Panasonic surveyed 100 Heads of Retail and equivalent roles from companies across Europe for the latest in a series of retail whitepapers. Results show 34% of retailer respondents are allocating 11-20% of their budgets towards customer experience innovation. Investing in innovative technology is also increasingly popular with retail brands. 57% are planning on automating their shopper engagement over the next two years. 52% will automate data analytics and 51% said they will roll-out electronic shelf labels during the next two years.
Some of the other areas respondents said they were interested in automating included supply chain automation, mobile POS and customer service kiosks. The research is the fourth in a series of Retail Instore Insights whitepapers published by Panasonic. Previous topics, produced in association with experts like Germany’s EHI Retail Institute and the UK’s leading industry magazine ‘Retail Week’, include the GDPR Checklist for Retailers, Super Charged Stores and the Digitalisation of Retail.
Sean Taylor, Head of Retail Solutions UK at Panasonic Business, added: “Consumer behaviour is driving a major shift in retailer thinking. Retailers are looking for ways in which technology can be used to extend customer insight, add value and ensure they remain top of mind for consumers.”
“Panasonic has an exciting range of technology solutions for retailers to help address these challenges. These include electronic shelf labels, automatic out of stock detection, check out solutions powered by facial and object recognition, and intelligent analytics that can be used for marketing and security purposes. Panasonic has a wealth of experience in both the technologies and integration techniques required to help retailers address these challenges for the 2020’s.”
Click here to get your Future Stores report
