Last updated on January 26th, 2023
Incisiv and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions have announced the findings of an executive survey, titled “State of the Industry: Innovation in Retail.”
The study found that 17 percent of retailers can be considered true innovation leaders, despite the majority recognizing the critical importance of innovation for future growth. The study, which surveyed 233 retailers, found that innovation leaders outperform their non-leader counterparts in key business metrics, such as revenue growth.
“Retail is a highly competitive industry, and the ability to innovate is essential for staying ahead of the curve,” said Giri Agarwal, chief insights officer for Incisiv. “Our research shows that there is a significant opportunity for retailers to improve their innovation capabilities and, in turn, drive better business performance.”
According to the study’s findings, unifying the customer experience across digital and physical channels is the top innovation priority for retailers. The brick-and-mortar store plays an important role in this aspect, as it offers customers the ability to physically interact with products and engage with the brand in person.
By leveraging the store to enhance the online customer experience and integrate it with mobile and digital channels, retailers can create a personalized journey for customers. The data from the study revealed that 83 percent of retailers are scaling or exploring initiatives to help them unify customer journeys across digital and physical channels.
“The findings of this research are an important reminder that retailers need to find new ways to solve the critical challenge of unification across digital and physical channels in order to drive growth,” said Fredrik Carlegren, VP of marketing and communications. “At Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, we are committed to working with retailers to help them understand and improve their customer experience capabilities across all channels.”
Additional findings of the research include:
- While 92 percent of retailers acknowledged the importance of innovation for future growth, 22 percent encouraged and rewarded risk-taking and experimentation within their organizations.
- Innovation in inventory visibility goes deeper than exposing available inventory. Leading retailers are focused on using the intelligence gained from inventory data to create better shopper experiences across channels.
Moreover, the report includes categorization of key technologies such as artificial intelligence, process automation, robotics and Internet of Things across an adoption maturity spectrum, helping retailers understand where they fall among peers in these areas.
