So far, only a few retailers have consistently pursued a comprehensive overall strategy for the introduction of digital market management. This is the conclusion of our study, published in Lebensmittelzeitung Issue 17, p. 68, April 26, 2019, which we are pleased to make available to you again here.
HAMBURG. So far, only a few retailers are consistently pursuing a comprehensive overall strategy for the introduction of digital market management. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by the service provider ReAct.
The food retail industry is "stuck in individual digital projects," according to the Hamburg-based company Responsive Acoustics (React) on its survey of owners, managing directors and store managers. It is true that digitization has already made its way into "two out of three German supermarkets" - but mostly only in the form of individual projects, criticizes ReAct. An overall digital strategy, on the other hand, is rather the exception.
A closer look at the results of the "Supermarket of the Future" study reveals the following about digitization in food retailing: A good half of the respondents, namely 54 percent, state that their company is already implementing individual projects. 14 percent of the study participants report a comprehensive strategy that is being consistently pursued. Two out of ten interviewees state that their company has not yet addressed the possibilities of digitization in food retailing or is merely observing the topic.
In comparison to other industries, the LEH is in its own estimation "at best in the digital midfield", concludes ReAct. Yet digitalization holds the key to more efficient self-organization and stronger customer orientation. Thanks to the Internet of Things, digital market management in food retailing offers numerous new development opportunities," says Wilbert Hirsch, Managing Director of the Hamburg-based service provider. With appropriate solutions, a complete supermarket can be networked, from the checkout to the vegetable scales to the freezer, explains Hirsch. In this way, technical malfunctions or long waiting times can be avoided.
Despite the "comparatively modest approaches in food retailing to date," the expectations for digital store management are high, the study continues. Above all, retailers promise themselves optimized merchandise management, with 87 percent of respondents citing this point. Two-thirds of the study participants hope for a better shopping experience and fewer working hours. Six out of ten would like to gain a better overview of internal operations and detect technical faults at an early stage. That the digitization of supermarkets will lead to a reduction in the workload of employees and that resource planning can be optimized is expected by 55 percent.
"The vast majority of owners and managers in food retailing are also optimistic overall about the digital future," Hirsch summarizes. Thus, 72 percent see positive or strongly positive changes in the next three years. For the own Untemehmen the value lies with 77 per cent somewhat more highly.
Source: Lebensmittelzeitung Issue 17, p. 68, April 26, 2019
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