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Global Retail Insights Predicts Top Line Growth To Drive Retailer Expansion in 2008
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.-(Business Wire)-January 8, 2008 - Leading independent research and advisory firm, Global Retail Insights, an IDC company, today announced the release of its annual Top 10 Predictions report, Worldwide Retail Industry 2008 Top 10 Predictions (Doc #GRI210285), which identifies the major market and technology trends that will directly influence global retailing and the resulting shopper experience around the world. According to this new study, retailers are preparing for what will no doubt be a turbulent 2008.
"A tepid holiday season to close 2007, combined with intensifying macro-economic pressures led by the U.S. sub-prime mortgage meltdown, currency challenges, and increasing energy costs, will force most merchants into new IT strategies at all levels - from the global sources of supply to the products on the store or e-commerce shelf," said Scott Langduc, vice president of Research and Business Leader for Global Retail Insights. "The quest for top-line growth will further drive retailers toward regional and global expansion."
Changing shopper demographics and habits will require new levels of customer intelligence and coordinated action, this new study reveals. These dramatic shifts will force retail IT organizations to accelerate and expand their role as custodians of enabling technology investments that will help retailers plan and act differently this upcoming year.
The Top 10 Predictions presented and analyzed in this study discuss how:
— Retailers will require the centralization and integration of demand intelligence technology;
— Newspaper circulars will succumb to personalized promotions and narrowcast advertising;
— Global retailer technology investment in the increasingly open India market will change the industry landscape;
— Corporate Social Responsibility and "Green Retail" will be on the top 5 list of priorities for retailers, and;
— The online social community revolution will target traditional retailers hard.
Global Retail Insights believes that retailers must plan now for the business process convergence of traditional merchant workflows with embedded analytics. It is imperative that retailers evaluate vendors and solutions with the lens that real-time demand, supply, and customer intelligence is a basic requirement when upgrading or replacing legacy merchandising or planning systems.
In addition, retailers should align with suppliers to test and measure emerging targeted advertising options and build those evaluations results into existing promotion effectiveness metrics. Planning for global capability in technology infrastructure is also a necessary strategy.
For retail technology vendors the focus for retail enterprise applications must be on three critical priorities: intelligence, integration, and usability. Of the three, usability remains both the greatest weakness and the greatest vendor opportunity as traditional merchants struggle with the transformation of their legacy applications into insight-driven workbenches.
Finally, Global Retail Insights believes that vendors should clearly define their capabilities for supporting retailer global expansion, including specific regional or country-specific configurations that exist.
Global Retail Insights spoke with technology vendors, strategic consultants, and a wide variety of retailers (both IT and line of business management) about the critical priorities for 2008 when thinking about the cohesion of competitive leadership and technology. These views, and Global Retail Insights analysis, form the basis for the 2008 Top 10 Predictions.
To arrange a one-on-one briefing with Scott Langdoc, please contact Sarah Murray at 781-794-3214 or sarahbethmurray@gmail.com. Scott will also be presenting a session at the annual The National Retail Federation's "Retailers Big Show" on January 14 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. In addition, the 2008 Top 10 Predictions report is available to qualified members of the media. For more information on obtaining or purchasing this report, Worldwide Retail Industry 2008 Top 10 Predictions, please contact: info@globalretail-insights.com.
About Global Retail Insights, an IDC Company
Global Retail Insights, an IDC company, provides retailers and IT vendors who serve them with research-based advisory and consulting services that enable industry executives to maximize their technology investments; minimize technology risk through accurate planning; benchmark themselves against industry peers; adopt industry best practices for merchant and IT alignment; make more informed technology decisions; and drive technology-enabled performance improvement and market innovation. Global Retail Insights provides full coverage of the retail value chain, with specific emphasis on IT and business process leadership in the areas of global supply chain, enterprise merchandising, demand intelligence, and next-generation store and channel operations. Global Retail Insights provides a portfolio of research and advisory services that are relevant to the needs of both retailers and industry vendors. For more information, please visit www.globalretail-insights.com.
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