According to part one of SML Groups’ state of retail report, 48% of retailers believe frequently out-of-stock items cause the biggest challenge to them serving customers in today’s retail environment. An additional half (48%) of retailers reportedly see improving the in-store customer experience as a top priority throughout 2022. The report casts light on industry focuses and trends going forward into 2023.
The full report delves into the knock-on effects that the pandemic continues to have on retail and how order fulfillment and the in-store customer experience have become a top priority moving forward. It is revealed that current economic and labor market conditions are having profound impacts on key players across the sector. In fact, 39% of respondents claimed that labor and staffing shortages were directly impacting operations at the in-store level, with retail being one of the most impacted sectors to date.
2022 was a challenging year for the retail sector, with organizations having to adapt and remain agile within the evolving retail landscape. For example, inventory insights, frequently out-of-stock items and overall demands of omnichannel retailing were said to have a significant impact on the customer experience and order fulfillment.
“The retail sector continues to look for operational improvements and try and bounce back from the pandemic, and this report makes it clear that retailers recognize the need to remain agile and responsive to changing trends,” said Dean Frew, chief technology officer and senior vice president for RFID Solutions at SML Group. “By investing in the right solutions — such as item-level RFID — retailers can improve insights over inventory and stock while reducing the impacts of ongoing labor shortages on the existing workforce.”
With a presence in over 20 countries, SML Group is the global end-to-end RFID and brand identification solutions provider, delivering proven results and rapid ROIs to brands in the the new era of retailing.
