Zebra Technologies-IHL Group Study Shows Retail Sales to Increase 3% Annually Through 2021

Zebra Technologies revealed the results of its 2017 Retail Transformation Study, a body of research examining the current and future retail marketplace in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).The study, conducted with IHL Group, a global research and advisory firm for the retail and hospitality industries, highlights the transformation of the retail sector as the model evolves to better serve consumers.
 
IHL projects retail industry sales to rise 3% annually through 2021, led by a shift to greater ecommerce/omnichannel sales volume. Zebra’s customers are also investing more in technology and growing faster than the industry average.
 
IHL projects the North American and EMEA retail markets to each grow approximately 3% over the next five years to $5.5 trillion and €4.4 trillion in sales, respectively. Ecommerce is projected to eclipse $1.5 trillion by 2021. 2017 saw more retail store openings than closures and store openings are expected to outpace closures through 2021.
 
Zebra’s customers are retail leaders and growing faster, prioritizing key technologies and spending more on information technology (IT) than the broader market to make the shopping experience more convenient and drive operational productivity.
 
In the Department Store/Specialty Store/Mass Merchant segment, retailers that are growing their business with Zebra are reporting 64% higher revenue growth, 135% higher store growth, 33% more store remodels and 53% more enterprise IT spend than the surveyed industry average.
 
In the Grocery, Convenience Store, Pharmacy and Supercenter retail segments, Zebra customers are increasing their IT spend at a rate 232% higher than the surveyed industry average while growing stores at a rate 60% higher and remodeling stores at a 22% higher rate.
 
“In North America alone, retail sales are set to rise to more than $5.5 trillion by 2021, so it’s critical retailers are equipped to meet customer expectations,” said Greg Buzek, founder and president, IHL Group.“Consumers used to ‘Have to Shop’ and now they must need to ‘Want to Shop’ at stores.Retailers that are focusing on the customer experience, investing in better training of associates and integrating IT systems across channels will be the ones that will continue to succeed.”