In our most recent research on how smart-mobile technologies are impacting retail, respondents confirm a trend we first saw emerge in last year’s study, and one which has been steadily becoming more prevalent in all of our recent digital channel research: even if budget is available, retailers are having an increasingly difficult time finding the resources needed to manage all of the available opportunities.

The problem is even more pronounced for Retail Winners (Figure 1).

Figure 1: It’s No Longer Just About Budget

Source: RSR Research, December 2012

In fact, while budget certainly remains a top inhibitor for all retailers, more Winners report difficulty not only in managing the opportunities that today’s technologists have effectively brought to market, (66 vs. 47%), but also in getting the IT resources necessary to make the most out of any new eCommerce and Mobile projects they can take on. To give an idea of how quickly this issue has arisen, 63% of Winners cite it in 2012 – in 2011, only 37’% of retailers identified it as an issue. For the best performers, project prioritization and manpower have rapidly become the #1 enemy within.

It is also interesting how few retailers report that lack of clear ownership gets in the way of forward progress (only 28% of Winners and 19% of average and underperforming peers): and, especially when considering that 85% of our respondents operate stores, how few retailers identified stores’ lack of understanding of mobile, social, or cross channel opportunities as prohibitive factors. Together, this data is indicative of an industry that may still be viewing cross-channel opportunities narrowly, affecting the e-commerce channel but not the stores. We expect these issues to bubble up as the budget and manpower to tackle new mobile initiatives are secured.

People, Processes, AND Technology

When it comes to getting past these inhibitors, retailers “share the love, ” recognizing that a lot of current processes need improvement. However, while there is no one magic bullet, they are certainly putting a lot of faith in what a streamlined technology platform – across all channels – will ultimately do for them (Figure 2).

Figure 2: No Magic Bullet

Source: RSR Research, December 2012

In aggregate, retailers also maintain a steadfast belief that a single executive, tasked with managing and improving the overall customer experience, is vital to pushing their mobile programs forward. Last year’s report was the first time we saw retailers gravitating toward this concept, and the 54% that identify a Chief Customer Experience Officer (or functional equivalent) this year are very much in line with the 60% who identified it as critical way to get past the roadblocks they face just 12 months ago. Echoing what we said in 2011, it cannot be overstated how vital this customer experience manager is to helping retailers become “unstuck “.

Concern about the technology and staff required to support mobile pervades. However, as usual, some performance-related differences emerge:

• Winners are even more bullish on the value of a new, streamlined technology platform: 61% look to such an investment as a way to get past their current challenges, compared to 50% of all others.
• Winners also point to IT’s role at a much higher rate than their peers: fewer are concerned about their IT departments’ technical capabilities (29% of Winners are concerned about burdening their IT asset, compared to nearly 40% of average and lagging retailers), while at the same time looking for more support from their IT team (26% of Winners, vs. 19% of all others). Quite simply, Winners put more stock in their IT’ers, and know their input is critical to enhanced mobility efforts.

Retailers seem to be making headway in the necessary coordination between selling channels and marketing: in 2011, 51% cited is a necessary means to move forward, a number that has fallen slightly to 44% this year. Does this indicate interdepartmental progress has been made, or have retailers lost a bit of focus on how important marketing’s coordination is to the selling channels? Only time will tell. If you’d like to know which specific technologies retailers plan to implement to help them realize their goals, please take a look at the full report, available here.