New RSR Report Investigates The State Of Retail in 2016

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Poised for transition, retail must adjust to keep shoppers happy.

According to RSR Research, retail stores have a problem. With the 21^st century is nearly 1/5^th over, today’s stores are still basically the same as they were at the turn of the century. Meanwhile, leaps and bounds have been made in the online realm to make that shopping experience more interesting and, just as importantly: more convenient.

But while retailers are well aware of these challenges, most of them have a lot of work to do before they can tackle them in a meaningful way.

The RSR report, “The Retail Store in 2016: Poised for Transformation,” examines the state of retail today and what retailers need to do to succeed in today’s evolving marketplace.

The report sought to discover how retailers themselves think they are doing in the effort to upgrade their technology in order to compete with the online experience and remain relevant in today’s omnichannel retail world. The results found that 63 percent of respondents reported that their existing in-store tech is incapable of being ‘futurized’, with another 38 percent asserting that “even if they could, the goalposts for what constitutes a widespread in-store technology success are just too high.” The result is panicked reactivity or inaction rather than proactive action.

Among the study’s findings:

• In an attempt to return their stores to relevance, retailers are focused on improving in-store customer services in order to compete with online shopping.
• Retailers realize that their greatest opportunities include educating and empowering employees, but they also are now cognizant of the fact that they need to find new ways to increase employee productivity.
• Stagnation and complacence are two big hurdles for retailers, as Store Operations management have become accustomed to current practices and resistant to changes in technology. These are just a few of the organizational inhibitors standing in the way of retailers, according to the report.
• And when it comes to enabling technology, just over half of retailers see a lot of value in employee-facing technologies, either implementing or budgeting for these technologies, but the report concludes “we are still a long ways off from physical stores that bring a strong fight to the online experience.”

Among the bootstrap recommendations provided in the report are:

• Define the role of your stores in the channel-less world.
• Be patient and take your time in the transformation of the store: it is a long process.
• Pursue the right technology for your store; don not pursue technology for its own sake.
• Continued investment in loyal and knowledgeable employees is crucial.
• Make your in-store technology projects attainable and manageable in size and scope.

Ultimately, the report concludes, “If stores are to become more interesting, if new customers are to be won and the customer experience is to improve, it can only happen with investments in both new technology and better store associates. Continuing to squeeze cost out of the store is simply not an option.”