Technology and the Keys to Retail Transformation

Virtually every industry underwent rapid technology acceleration in 2020, especially those reliant on direct customer experiences. Between innovations in virtual and hybrid customer engagement, payment processing, personalization, mobile solutions, the development of new digital platforms, automated purchasing, flexible inventory management, increased data integration, touchless everything, and a wide range of solutions geared to maintaining agility in the face of unprecedented market change, the retail industry responded like no other. As a result, the industry has also benefited, adapting technology and making changes geared to improving the customer experience for the long term. But there is progress to be made: According to IDC 2020 Industry IT & Communications, more than 35% of retailers have done little to no work in applying technology as part of digital transformation or are just beginning to automate different functions but not in a coordinated fashion; just 20% are well underway in applying technology to connect people, devices and businesses or have gone beyond integration and are now deriving real-time insights to drive optimizations in processes and workflows; and 44.6% are an early stage, with more work to do. In “Technology and the Keys to Retail Transformation,” a webinar from Comcast Business, We explore some of the key retail innovations of the past year; the underlying technologies that support a seamless, optimized customer experience; and retail technology trends going forward. Our panelists include: •Robert Eastman, Research Manager, Retail Technology Strategies, IDC Retail Insights. •Leslie Hand, Group Vice President, IDC Retail Insights. •Bob Wyllner, Vice President of Retail Operations, Comcast Headquarters Retail Sales Operations Team.