E-Commerce Growth Threatened by Technology Barriers, New Study Finds

Retail Systems Research's (RSR) most recent benchmark report, "Finding the Integrated Multi-Channel Retailer: Benchmark Study 2008" reveals that despite gaining process efficiencies that have improved the profitability of non-store consumer purchases, retailers struggle to service cross-channel shoppers. Progress made in creating cross-channel experiences will run afoul of the disparate information systems used to cobble together cross-channel shopping, threatening even the meteoric growth of the online channel.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) April 2, 2008 -- Retail's eCommerce channel has become a shining star in an otherwise dismal retail season. While the National Retail Federation projects overall retail sales growth to be 3.5% in 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that eCommerce sales will rise over 17% in the same period, and over 70% in the next five years.

However, while retailers have made progress in aligning customer service processes with evolving consumer shopping patterns, Retail Systems Research's (RSR) latest study shows that even retail winners (those that outperform their peers in year-over-year sales) fear their information systems stand as the biggest barrier to future improvements. With retail performance increasingly dependent on the inter-play between stores and online, such barriers threaten both retailer results and the meteoric growth of the online channel.

The study, "Finding the Integrated Multi-Channel Retailer," sponsored by SAP and IBM, finds that retailers have made significant progress in integrating the processes that support multi-channel sales by more closely aligning purchasing and fulfillment across channels. But even while the web continues to flourish as the fastest growing channel, most retailers remain concerned that redundant processes and unintegrated systems will drive up their costs as the volume of non-store sales increases.

The research also found that retailers increasingly see alternate channels as a way to enhance the value of the dominant channel - the store. At the same time, retailers cannot afford redundant business processes and systems for all the channels that they operate, and so there is tremendous pressure to address operational efficiencies and systems integration issues in order to fulfill customer expectations of a seamless cross-channel experience.

"Shoppers don't see the barriers between retailers' different channel operations," said Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner at RSR and author of the report. "Creating a consistent brand identity across all channels is viewed as a critical success factor by the vast majority of retailers, according to our research. Improving systems to ensure that product, customer, and inventory information is timely, accurate, and available to all the channels is a key component of that, in order to enable cross-channel ordering and fulfillment."

RSR's new study, Finding the Integrated Multi-channel Retailer: Benchmark Study 2008, identifies the internal obstacles retailers face in meeting consumers' cross-channel needs and the methods retail winners use to overcome those obstacles. It also provides recommendations for becoming a winner in multi-channel retailing.

To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, click here (http://www.retailsystemsresearch.com/_document/summary/490) or

http://www.retailsystemsresearch.com/_document/summary/490.

About Retail Systems Research

Retail Systems Research ("RSR") is the only research company run by retailers for the retail industry. RSR provides insight into business and technology challenges facing the extended retail industry, and thought leadership and advice on navigating these challenges for specific companies and the industry at large. To learn more about RSR, visit rsrresearch.com (http://www.rsrresearch.com).

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