CEO Viewpoint: The Transformation of Retail

Since JDA first commissioned a global survey of retail and consumer goods CEOs in 2014, we have witnessed unprecedented change sweeping across the retail industry as it transforms itself to meet the needs of the modern shopper.

Narratives around omni-channel are set to change, as both the demands of the modern shopper and advances in technology become ever greater catalysts.

In the fourth annual survey prepared for JDA Software Group Inc. by PwC, retailers expressed greater confidence in future revenue, with 52 percent of executives saying they are very confident about their organization’s prospects for revenue growth.

Results from the survey also show that compared to 2014 there has been a decline in retailers’ ability to manage omni-channel execution that can meet the demands of the modern shopper, who are expecting a seamless blend between the physical and digital store.

In fact, only 10 percent of CEOs say they have refined their offerings and are now able to make a profit while fulfilling omni-channel demand.

These retailers are less likely to implement increased charges for online orders.

Retailers who struggle to meet customers’ omni-channel fulfillment demands are more likely to implement increased charges for online orders.

Research also noted that retailers who have distinct channels operating as silos to meet customer demand have experienced the highest increase in online operating costs as a percentage to sales over the last 12 months of any group surveyed.

The survey was conducted in late 2016 with 351 responses from executives in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Japan.

Thirty-two percent of responses were from top 250 retailers (> $5 billion revenue), with another 53 percent from top 1,000 retailers.

Respondents identified themselves as coming from hard goods, soft lines, grocery, ecommerce, and CPG verticals, and from related retail and consumer goods sectors.