Report: Technology creates competitive advantage for retailers

New York -- Technology is both disrupting and revitalizing retail, according to a new report by Fung Business Intelligence Centre Global Retail & Technology (FBIC).



“The marriage of retail and technology is rapidly changing the retail landscape and providing a plethora of new opportunities for brands, retailers and consumers. Consumer choices that were unimaginable ten years ago are now at our fingertips," according to “Retail in the New Connected World,” the first in the in a series special reports, called “The Disruptors Series,” to be issued throughout the year by FBIC.



Advances in technology are creating an environment where people are constantly connected online, creating new ways for retailers to interact with their shoppers, said Deborah Weinswig, executive director-head of global retail & technology, FBIC. The emerging technologies have the potential to disrupt retail, placing new pressures on stores to produce a seamless, omnichannel (anytime/anywhere) shopping experience for consumers, and providing new business models for retailers, according to Weinswig.



Some of the newer technologies dramatically influencing shopper behavior and experience include smartphone sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMs), mobile apps, cloud computing and beacons.



"Each of these disruptors will have a different effect on consumer behavior and consumer interaction with retailers," Weinswig said in the report. "This first report is an overview of these technologies and what retailers can do to adapt to these changes and adopt disruptor technologies."



These disruptive technologies create challenges for retailers: the technologies are still evolving, and their implementation requires embracing new business models. There are also challenges to adoption that retailers must consider, including privacy and security concerns on the part of shoppers," the report says.



"Overcoming these obstacles will take time, but retailers that do not master new technologies will be victims of disruption rather than the disruptors,” Weinswig said,



The store of the future will incorporate these new technologies to improve the collection and analysis of consumer data, resulting in a more informed customer and more empowered associates.



To read The Disruptors Series, visit fbicgroup.com or deborahweinswig.com.