Press Release

05_08_2008   UK RETAILERS AT TIPPING POINT FOR MULTI-CHANNEL SELLING

Non-store sales remain stagnant but 91% of retailers expect this to increase in 2008, according to Martec's IT in Retail 2008-9 Report

DUNSTABLE, UK – 5th August, 2008 – Despite massive investment in multi-channel retailing solutions, the percentage of non-stores sales among UK retailers has remained constant at 4.4% for the past two years, according to Martec’s IT in Retail 2008-9 report, sponsored by Torex™. Yet an overwhelming majority expect to see increases in the coming year.

The study, which reveals that spending on IT as a percentage of overall sales has remained at an average of 1.3%, is a comprehensive guide to IT investment trends among the UK’s 100 leading retailers, with combined annual sales of over £170 billion and encompassing over 50,000 stores.

Retailers remain, however, committed to multi-channel selling, with 91% expecting a promising year ahead and many having made website investments in the last year.  Moves are being made into TV and mobile selling, but boosting online transactions is a priority. 68% of retailers now have a transactional website compared with 58% in 2007. There has also been a move in certain categories – particularly POS (Point of Sale) - towards purchasing off-the-shelf systems in favour of in-house solutions.

“The move towards off-the-shelf POS shows that there are now solutions available that help match retailers’ tough demands for delivering high-quality customer service,” said Graeme Cooksley, President and COO, Torex, the leading European-based global provider of end-to-end business solutions for the extended retail marketplace. “For vendors, there’s also a massive opportunity in the months ahead to enable companies to fulfil on their ambitious multi-channel plans and ensure the complete customer experience is as good as can be.”

Mobile technology is another area seeing steady growth. 50% of those surveyed are currently using mobile technology in all their stores mainly for stock management including stock taking, price checking, markdown pricing, and delivery scanning.

Interest in merchandising and buying systems has risen rapidly over the last year, with 12% of respondents citing these as their top investment priority for 2008, compared with only 7% last year. Store systems unsurprisingly remain the main priority for retailers, given the major expense resulting from the multiplier effect of a chain of shops.

While green initiatives pioneered by the likes of Marks and Spencer and Sainsburys have hit mainstream headlines, only half of retailers are using technology to help reduce their carbon emissions or make their environmental footprint more sustainable. Of the 49% making significant changes to their business, however, the most popular technologies include server virtualisation and consolidation and the use of energy efficient PCs and till servers.

Before the rise in momentum of green IT, RFID had long been the hot new technology in the retail IT space, yet 75% still have no plans to invest in RFID. 8% are currently running trials (either in the supply chain or in-store), 6% have run trials in the past and another 6% are ‘investigating’ the technology.

“This year’s Martec report illustrates that retailers intend to continue to invest in IT and that this investment will extend across the enterprise. Yet budgets are tightening and IT Directors are being expected to do more for the same money. We expect to see a major rise in take-up of enterprise solutions which help retailers to improve efficiency across the enterprise and enhance the customer experience, enabling them to gain a competitive edge – particularly as we move further into a challenging economic climate,” said Doug Hargrove, Chief Marketing Officer, Torex.