MEXICO CITY, September 27, 2022 — A recent study by IDC and sponsored by Kyndryl and Microsoft predicts that Mexican retailers are looking to improve their productivity and efficiency to acquire and retain customers, while reinventing their business models to offer unified shopping experiences that integrate physical and digital channels.
The IDC Vendor Spotlight report “Retail Without Borders: Integrating Unified Shopping Experiences” shows that, due to the radical changes in the market in recent years, the purchasing habits of products and services have evolved. IDC data forecasts that 59% of consumers would be willing to shop elsewhere if they don't have the ability to opt for a shopping experience that integrates the physical and digital channel, while 51% would select another retailer if they were not offered a flexible returns policy.
Consumers demand unique and innovative experiences that offer efficient, flexible, and easy to buy services. This creates the challenge for retail companies to constantly innovate while they continue to operate and achieve sales targets. According to companies that operate in Mexico, the search for productivity and efficiency are the most important to achieve that goal, followed by the acquisition and retention of customers and then the effort to generate new digital income.
“Despite challenges in recent years, retailers that have digitally transformed are outperforming their peers that have not. These leaders have accelerated investments in the modernization of platforms, applications and processes that meet the current needs of their clients, in addition to investing in driving businesses that add new sources of income”, says Claudia Medina, Senior Manager of Business Solutions, IDC Mexico.
In the mid-term, technology investments are expected to improve resiliency and adaptability for retailers, including omnichannel store digital maturity, supply chain modernization and optimization maturity, the ability to identify new paths for profitable growth and association with ecosystem participants, who will be responsible for taking the lead in the main innovation initiatives.
“In this digital era, Mexican consumers demand unique and innovative experiences to go along with their product and service purchase. Kyndryl has a longstanding commitment with the retail sector in Mexico to help industry leaders manage their complex technological environment with an integrated service, preparing them for high-demand seasons such as Buen Fín and the year-end shopping. We empower them to innovate their operations to improve the omnichannel and unified shopping experience to meet customer demand in this dynamic and changing industry.” said Julio Heshiki, Managing Director, Kyndryl Mexico.
“Providing a great unified shopping experience is mandatory across all channels, and retailers that continue to invest in technology to their benefit. In light of the trends we've identified, customers require the flexibility to adopt the right solutions to meet their most pressing business needs, whether it's knowing their customers better, empowering their employees, creating an intelligent supply chain or redefine their business model,” said Hayan Ortega, Head of Industry, Retail & CG at Microsoft Latin America.
Tech trends for the retail sector
Based on this scenario, IDC foresees some global trends that should change the dynamic between retail companies and their consumers:
Payment systems. By 2023, 80% of retailers are expected to implement advanced payment options such as app-based scan-and-pay systems in stores, which could increase customer retention by up to 30%.
Security. By 2023 75% of C-suite leaders will implement business-critical KPIs tied to data availability, recovery, and management in response to increasing levels of cyberattacks.
Artificial Intelligence. By end of 2022, 40% of the top 500 retailers globally will use AI-enabled decision support to drive improvements in new omnichannel retail KPIs.
Automated inventories. By 2025, 75% of retailers will fully integrate their inventory management, thereby improving customer satisfaction by 50%.
Intelligent automation. By 2026, 50% of retailers are expected to have solved data integration and visibility challenges to fully automate routine tasks and open real-time, agile communications between employees and systems.
Automated supply chain. The supply chain is responsible for between 30% and 35% of the total costs of the products, hence the importance of automating it. IDC estimates that 34% of the world's largest retailers have used automated robotic services for last-mile delivery.
Metaverse. IDC defines the metaverse as a highly immersive virtual environment that blends the physical and the digital to drive a shared sense of presence and interaction across multiple spheres of work and everyday life. IDC expects that by the end of 2022 the spending on Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality of the most important companies worldwide will reach $20M.
As part of their alliance, Kyndryl and Microsoft provide companies with a modular and comprehensive solution that ranges from consulting and implementation of the appropriate technology to management services to improve productivity and optimize workflows.
For more information, explore the report “Retail Without Borders: Integrating Physical and Digital Experiences,” sponsored by Kyndryl and Microsoft and produced by IDC Vendor Spotlight..
About Kyndryl
Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider serving thousands of enterprise customers in more than 60 countries. The Company designs, builds, manages, and modernizes the complex, mission-critical information systems that the world depends on every day. For more information, visit www.kyndryl.com.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The company has been in Mexico for 35 years and is one of the 119 subsidiaries of Microsoft Corp., founded in 1975. In 2020, the company announced an investment in Mexico over 5 years to contribute to the development of the country through technology, thus strengthening the different productive sectors and communities of the country.
