Retail

Study: Pandemic spurring retailer tech spending

Photo by istock.com

November 19, 2020

A majority of retailers, six in 10, are accelerating technology spending plans due to COVID-19's impact on the retail environment, and more than 80% of retail decision makers consider smart checkout, workforce software and prescriptive analytics as key tech to have in the next five years.

Those statistics are from the 13th annual Zebra Global Shopper Study that analyzes shopper behavior, insight from retail leaders, retail associates and consumer purchase behavior online and in the physical store.

Customers expect a seamless experience between digital and physical retail. Consumers that leave a store without purchasing a product cite out of stocks a the top reason, followed by checkout lines and an inability to find a needed item, according to a press release on the study's findings.

Additional findings include:

• 72% of shoppers have used mobile ordering and 82% of those shoppers are highly likely to continue using it.
• Millennials (88%) and Gen X (79%) shoppers were primary users of mobile ordering, but nearly half of Boomers (47%) used it too, and 74% of them are likely to continue using it in the future.
• 64% of shoppers believe more retailers need to offer mobile ordering while the vast majority of decision makers (90%) and store associates (83%) agree mobile ordering would help meet customer expectations.

Just about half (47%) of those polled in the study have interacted with self-checkouts in the last six months and 63% agree self-checkout solutions provide an improved customer experience.

"Our study found that shoppers' in-store and online satisfaction significantly declined this year due to out-of-stocks, product variety, online delivery cost and timing and returns," Jeff Schmitz, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Zebra Technologies, said in the release. "Retailers are aware that success hinges on elevating the shopper experience, and investments in analytics, mobile ordering and smart checkout will provide a more seamless and satisfying omnichannel experience."

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Zebra’s scan engines for self-service kiosk solutions give customers seamless quick service technology while providing a long lifecycle they can count on.

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