Survey shows retailers increase IT spending<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Retail companies around the world with annual revenues of more
\nthan US$100 million, including four companies in Indonesia, spent
\n2.1 percent of their total sales on information technology (IT),
\nhigher than last year's total of 1.7 percent, according to the
\n2003 Retail CIO Survey.<\/p>\n
The survey, conducted by IBM Business Consulting Service in
\nassociation with Executive Technology magazine, shows that the
\nincrease in IT spending is driven by an increased focus on
\nbusiness initiatives such as outsourcing, revamping of Point-Of-
\nSale (POS) systems and improved enterprise reporting and
\nanalysis.<\/p>\n
These initiatives are expected to deliver benefits, such as
\nimproved customer responsiveness, greater productivity, cost
\nreduction and increased enterprise flexibility.<\/p>\n
ASEAN\/South Asia Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail chief
\nPatrick Medley said on Monday that retailers globally were
\nfocused on improving business results through IT investment and
\nwere increasingly aligning technology investments with their
\nbusiness strategy.<\/p>\n
This is represented by the findings that indicates 59 percent
\nof the retailers' main reason for increasing IT spending is
\nenhancing employee productivity and improving customer
\nsatisfaction. Thirty percent of the companies surveyed are from
\nthe Asia-Pacific region, with the remainder located in North
\nAmerica and Europe.<\/p>\n
Seventy-nine percent of the Asia-Pacific retailers have
\nprioritized executive reporting and analytics, while Data
\nWarehousing is a corporate priority, according to 75 percent of
\nthe retailers in the region.<\/p>\n
Nearly 40 percent of retailers are expecting to allocate at
\nleast 20 percent or more of their IT budgets on outsourced
\nprojects in the next three to five years. The survey indicates
\nthat the motivation behind IT outsourcing is to reduce operating
\ncosts as it was chosen by 37 percent of the respondents.<\/p>\n
However, the retailers are still focused on solving
\nfundamental challenges, such as the lack of IT integration and
\noutdated POS systems.<\/p>\n
Today's retail environment, with its increasingly competitive
\nintensity, unforgiving financial pressures and unpredictable
\nthreats, requires retailers to fuse IT with business strategies
\nto compete effectively and survive.<\/p>",
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