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IN BRIEF<br />
E-commerce is king ROLLING-OUT<br />
Martec report reveals e-commerce is top investment priority<br />
E-commerce will be UK retailers’ biggest IT<br />
investment priority over the next three<br />
years, according to Martec’s ‘IT in Retail<br />
2013’ Report. The report, sponsored by JDA<br />
Software Group, asked IT directors and senior<br />
managers from the UK’s leading 150 retailers<br />
about their IT strategies and spending.<br />
Store systems were retailers’ second biggest<br />
investment priority, yet the gap between these<br />
and e-commerce had widened signifi cantly over<br />
the last year. Third in investment priority were<br />
supply chain and systems integration, which<br />
were followed by CRM systems.<br />
The report also revealed overall IT spending<br />
across the retail sector had fallen. IT spend as a<br />
percentage of sales was 0.9 per cent in 2012,<br />
compared to one per cent in 2011. Prior to<br />
2011, IT spend was on average 1.3 per cent of<br />
sales for a period of four years.<br />
When it comes to the deployment of IT<br />
systems, there is a growing trend towards using<br />
cloud-based applications. Thirty-fi ve per cent of<br />
Video screening AND analytics in ONE application<br />
Is he a known shoplifter?<br />
How old is she?<br />
When, where did he enter?<br />
the retailers surveyed said they were currently<br />
using them, with a further 28 per cent saying<br />
they plan to do so in the future. Interestingly<br />
23 per cent said they don’t have a transactional<br />
website. However, those retailers with one saw<br />
online sales represent 7.3 per cent of total<br />
sales, up from 6.3 per cent the previous year.<br />
The report also revealed m-commerce as an<br />
area of increased focus for retailers. Forty-nine<br />
per cent of retailers stated they were already<br />
using m-commerce, with a further 13 per cent<br />
saying they plan to do so.<br />
Department stores and mass merchandisers<br />
thought online sales would peak at 30-40 per<br />
cent of total sales. Small format stores thought<br />
20-30 per cent, while food and drug and large<br />
format speciality retailers thought it would<br />
be 10-20 per cent. Finally, the survey revealed<br />
more retailers are looking to offer free Wi-Fi<br />
in-store. Twenty-three per cent of retailers<br />
surveyed said they already offered free Wi-Fi,<br />
while 12 per cent said they plan to provide this.<br />
How often was she here this month?<br />
Is she an employee?<br />
Is this valued customer Jim Jones?<br />
How many people are here? Is it too crowded in this area?<br />
Cognitec develops market-leading face recognition technologies and applications<br />
for enterprise and government customers around the world.<br />
In various independent evaluation tests, our FaceVACS® recognition software has<br />
proven to be the premier technology available on the market.<br />
www.cognitec.com<br />
news<br />
Kiddicare continued its rapid multi-channel<br />
acceleration with its fi rst superstore<br />
launch of 2013. The store opened on 27<br />
February at Parkgate Shopping, Rotherham.<br />
Rotherham is the fi rst of seven<br />
Kiddicare superstores opening in 2013.<br />
NEW WEBSITE<br />
Joules will utilise the ‘out of the box’<br />
hybris Commerce Accelerator to support<br />
the launch of their new website, which<br />
has been facilitated through hybris partner,<br />
Eclipse Group. Commerce Accelerator<br />
helps deploy a truly integrated solution.<br />
IPADS IN-STORE<br />
SOLE|TRADER has introduced iPads to<br />
its UK stores with a private WiFi network<br />
from Vodat International. The system enables<br />
SOLE|TRADER to securely process<br />
transactions through the store checkout<br />
as well as online, giving customers access<br />
to in-store and online stock.<br />
Face Recognition Technology<br />
for real-time video screening,<br />
people analytics, crowd detection<br />
and VIP recognition<br />
FaceVACS-VideoScan instantly<br />
detects, tracks, recognizes and analyzes<br />
people in video streams.<br />
Users can detect and identify persons<br />
of interest while receiving demographic<br />
and behavioral data, making it the<br />
only video technology on the market<br />
that can support security staff and<br />
operations management simultaneously.<br />
See it live at RBTE, booth 132!<br />
RS
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