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IT spend in retail slowing down?
Tech teams making do

By Julian Goldsmith

Published: Wednesday 07 May 2008

IT spending growth in the retail sector appears to have faltered, with many retailers trying to do more with the same money, according to the latest IT in Retail report.

The report, now in its sixth year, is published by Martec International in conjunction with Torex Retail Holdings. It reflects the views of 100 top UK retailers with the combined annual sales of £170bn through 50,000 stores.

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The report showed the main focus for IT investment was in-store systems. One area of interest is in-store mobile technology, with just over half of respondents using or planning to use mobile devices to improve store productivity. This is followed as a priority by merchandising systems and then online retailing.

More than two thirds have transactional websites in operation and nine out of 10 expect to see non-store sales increase.