Research that hit the InternetRetailing inbox this week variously found that retailers feel the industry is fit for digital, and that augumented reality could add £1bn to the UK’s retail market.
Retailers most enthusiastic about digital
Eighty per cent of the retail executives that Fujitsu spoke to for its Fit for Digital: co-creation in the Age of Disruption research said they were enthusiastic and excited about digital, and 86% said digital disruption would fundamentally change their sector by 2021.
The retailers were among more than 1,000 executives from nine countries working in the public and private sector who were questioned in the research. They included 156 from the UK and 210 from the US. A higher proportion of retailers said they were enthusiastic about digital than executives from other sectors, while only 33% said they were concerned about the future of their organisation in the light of digital.
Almost all (96%) business leaders from all sectors questioned in the study are taking measures to ensure that their business stays at the forefront of innovation, although 66% said they wanted their organisation to move faster on digital disruption.
“Nowadays the level of customers’ expectations is at an all-time high, with the research even stating that customers are the biggest force driving digital disruption (50%)” said Rupal Karia, managing director for retail and hospitality, UK and Ireland at Fujitsu. “If retailers are to thrive in this ever increasingly digital landscape, they are going to need to collaborate with technology partners that will help them to facilitate innovation and new services, which will ultimately help them enrich their customer service and differentiate themselves in such a competitive market.”
Augmented reality
Digital Bridge says in its own report, The Imagination Gap – Retail’s £1bn problem, that augmented reality could add £1bn to UK’s retail market.
It says that if consumers could use visualisation technology to see what products would look like in their homes before they buy, they would spent up to £1bn a year extra.
There’s more here on this report from my colleague Paul Skeldon.
