ISG Provider Lens™ report find COVID-19
spike in online shopping accelerating digital demand among
retailers
Retailers in the U.K. are looking to upgrade
their e-commerce platforms and improve customer experience in
response to a pandemic-induced spike in online shopping here,
according to a new report published today by Information Services
Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and
advisory firm.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Retail Software and Services Report
for the U.K. finds nearly 30 percent of all retail revenue in the
U.K. last year came from online shopping, with online sales jumping
45 percent from the previous year. Growth was largely driven by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“Before 2020, the U.K. already had one of the highest adoption
rates of online shopping among western economies,” said Mike Witty,
a retail expert and director in the ISG Consumer Services practice.
“U.K. shoppers have been taking advantage of a mature logistics
infrastructure and the ability to move across channels.”
Still, U.K. retailers want to use more technology tools and
services to improve online and in-store shopping, the report says.
Many retailers here are applying data analytics, digital displays
and shelf-monitoring technologies to their in-store shopping
experiences. The aim is to enhance productivity, ease of customer
access and personalization inside stores.
In addition, retailers are leveraging technologies across
multiple supply chain touchpoints. For example, a robot can scan
shelves for out-of-stock items, trigger a request for restocking,
then prompt the backend system to dispatch a robot to fill the
shelf with minimal human intervention. Retailers see these systems
making the supply chain more agile.
U.K. retailers are also embracing drive-through pick-up
locations after customers have ordered products online, the report
says. Some small-format retail stores in residential areas are
doubling as micro-fulfillment hubs.
Retailers are also using several technologies to improve the
profitability of online shopping, the report adds. Fashion
retailers are using smart-fitting technologies to help shoppers
choose the right size clothing, and grocery stores are beginning to
look at automated picking and packing systems, coupled with
artificial intelligence-based delivery logistics algorithms to
expand online delivery.
The report also sees U.K. retailers shifting to hybrid operating
models, in which humans and machines work together to deliver
services. Retailers are using this hybrid model in store
operations, in customer-facing technology, in the supply chain, and
in online and backend operations. For example, some stores are
supplying wearable devices to store workers to help them assist
customers, and others are deploying self-service checkout kiosks to
eliminate cashiers.
The report also finds U.K. retailers embracing machine learning
to obtain better views of customer behavior online. Retailers also
are experimenting with algorithmic retailing, artificial
intelligence and the Internet of Things for tracking inventory,
enabling their workforces to better serve customers and make store
spaces and processes more efficient and intelligent.
In the area of platform migration services, the report finds
some large retailers are moving away from packaged technology
offerings and investing in developing their own
microservices-enabled platforms. These companies are focused on
shaping technology tools from scratch and having complete control
over their shopping technology environment.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Retail Software and Services Report
for the U.K. evaluates the capabilities of 33 providers across five
quadrants: E-commerce Platforms, Merchandise Planning and
Management Software, Retail Transformation Services, Platform
Migration Services and Managed Services.
The report names Capgemini, Cognizant, HCL and TCS as leaders in
three quadrants and Oracle and SAP as leaders in two. Adobe
(Magento), RELEX, Salesforce, SAS and Wipro are named leaders in
one quadrant.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Retail Software and Services Report
for the U.K. is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase
on this webpage.
About ISG Provider Lens™ Research
The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only
service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical,
data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world
experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team.
Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis
to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners,
while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market
knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The
research currently covers providers offering their services
globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Germany,
Switzerland, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and
Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the
future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research,
please visit this webpage.
A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype
reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the
perspective of specific buyer types.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading
global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business
partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the
world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping
corporations, public sector organizations, and service and
technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster
growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services,
including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory;
managed governance and risk services; network carrier services;
strategy and operations design; change management; market
intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006,
and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300
digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a
global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence,
deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research
and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most
comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit
www.isg-one.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210706005106/en/
Will Thoretz, ISG +1 203 517 3119 will.thoretz@isg-one.com Cait
Buckley, Matter Communications for ISG +1 617 874 5214
isg@matternow.com
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