California Apparel News

Retail is changing, and a recently released research report, “The First Annual Future of Stores Study,” said that retailers are not moving quickly enough to stay ahead of the change.

Edgell Knowledge Network, a research firm headquartered in Randolph, N.J., surveyed executives of more than 60 retailers and found that stores are adopting technology at a slower pace than the consumers they serve. Of the survey’s respondents, 41 percent were apparel and accessories retailers.

The slower pace of adoption could spell trouble for retailers. The study forecast e-commerce and mobile-phone commerce to grow at a faster pace than sales at physical stores. Study authors said physical stores will remain at the center of retailing, but consumers are increasingly accessing stores through a myriad of ways, such as mobile phones. This multi-channel access is called omnichannel retail.

In the survey, EKN found that 63 percent of retailers consider their biggest store technology challenge to be a rapidly changing technology environment, 48 percent said their biggest challenge is justifying the return on investment of spending for new tech, and 42 percent said their organization has a lack of IT resources or skills.

The study called for stores to “reimagine” how their business will best fit into an omnichannel world. Gaurav Pant, EKN research director, cautioned businesses to determine their omnichannel goals before investing in technology. “People think that if you put all of the technological bells and whistles in the store, it will be the best store,” Pant said. “But it may end up being a mausoleum of technology. If [some technology] doesn’t work for the brand, it doesn’t make any sense.”

He suggested retailers focus on some key areas, such as mobile technology and customer-analytics technology, to help gather information on the store’s customers. Store staff who use mobile devices won’t be chained to the store’s cash-register area, allowing them to better engage with customers.

The study was sponsored by Epicor, a maker of business-to-business software. The company is headquartered in Dublin, Calif.