Fujitsu Pan-European Retail Survey 2013

News facts:
* Fujitsu shares views of senior European retail managers on the future of stores in a multi-channel environment
* Two in three store managers consider sales their main concern: how to sell more, and more efficiently?
* Fujitsu's new generation of flexible and adjustable retail systems are designed to meet changing market conditions and customer demands

Fujitsu has revealed that retailers across Europe are at a crossroads, facing the dilemma of increasing operational efficiency while also improving customer experience, and aware that achieving both is not possible. An exclusive survey of European retail management commissioned by Fujitsu [1], a top-three retail solutions and services provider working with over 500 retailers and 82 000 stores around the world, found that almost 60% of respondents placed the same value on both efficiency and customer experience in an increasingly multi-channel environment, underlining the fundamental challenge facing retailers with a store presence.

Findings from the Fujitsu Pan-European Retail Survey 2013 confirm the future of the store in a changing environment. Managers face challenges such as driving sales and managing people. Simultaneously, they must maintain a unified view of customers across all channels, and so must understand how to leverage technology innovation to deliver multi-channel solutions that deliver improved customer experiences at a competitive cost.

Retailers are often under economic pressure due to the cost of space, inventory and people. A key finding of Fujitsu's research is the high priority retailers place on driving sales, while managing and developing the skills of their people. Managers today use multiple indicators to evaluate store efficiency, with those relating to sales margin used most widely by 60% of respondents. The survey confirms that retailers recognise their biggest challenge is to sell more, and to do so more efficiently [2], with 63% of respondents identifying sales as their principal concern.

Almost three in every five retailers expect to benefit most from technology solutions supporting online-based services - most notably for the international companies and larger food retailers. Mobile phone sales capabilities are considered equally important by international retailers.

The biggest 'efficiency versus customer experience' gap is emerging among larger food retailers, which consider all self-service and hybrid technologies as contributing greatly to store efficiency (over 60%), while simultaneously adding value to the business (around 65%). In comparison, other retail categories consider these technologies as contributing more to the customer experience (50% to 60%), and as such, say these technologies generate less value to the business (around 30%), possibly as it is more difficult to trace 'cause and effect' in such projects.

Store technology projects are delivering multi-channel retail solutions - the store is no longer the only place customers are buying. That said, technologies will become decisive in revolutionising in-store purchasing (according to 71% of respondents), where stores will remain the hub for customer engagement. Although retailers realise that a first-class customer experience is the best way to build a brand with loyal customers, financial concerns hold back many companies from reaching for this goal.

To support retailers facing this dilemma, Fujitsu is developing a new generation of flexible and adjustable retail systems designed to meet changing market conditions and customer demands. Fujitsu's end-to-end approach meets the unique challenges of the full variety of retail sectors and differing market-maturity stages. Retail solutions include initial consulting through to the commissioning and delivery of complete systems down to the cash registers, backed by managed services to keep retailers open for business.

Supporting quote
Richard Clarke, Vice-President, Global Retail at Fujitsu
"Being a retailer - buying and merchandising, supply chain, retail operations, transaction management - is no longer defined by having a store, merchandise to sell and a cash register. It has become defined by managing customers through their shopping 'journeys' on their terms, and often via their own personal assets, such as a smartphone, and their own capabilities - based on their product knowledge or social networking connectedness. Fujitsu Retail Solutions help retailers to begin recasting their business models to fit their customers, not just their stores."

Notes to editors

1. Fujitsu Pan-European Retail Survey 2013

Future of the store in a multi-channel environment: How to turn today's challenges into tomorrow's successes through improvement of store efficiency and customer experience?

Novametrie, the specialist provider of opinion leader research, was commissioned by Fujitsu to undertake independent research with senior managers in retail businesses in France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and other countries (including multiple countries covered by HQ representatives). During September/November 2012, Novametrie undertook 20 qualitative interviews (face-to-face and telephone), followed by 161 quantitative interviews (online) during January/February 2013.

2. Image: The Challenge for Retailers: To Sell More and Better [For optional use: This image is available as an individual slide to allow easy translation by country PR]

Country perspectives

[For optional use: This section is designed as a basis for helping country PR teams to spot relevant national research highlights, and can be edited/deleted as appropriate]

France: 76% of respondents defined stores as a place of events, discovery and experiences compared to the global average of 66%

* The importance of stores: 94% defined stores as a place for service; 70% believe stores are a pick-up point.
* Sixty-nine percent of directors interviewed believe the store's value may increase provided it shows a joint interest in customer experience and store efficiency.
* Yet about 14% of respondents capture information without using it.
* For 80%, technologies will become decisive in revolutionising in-store purchasing.
* Top three store projects to improve store efficiency: Loss-prevention tool (53%), online-based services (51%), mobile phones (47%).

Germany: The attractiveness of online shopping today: 8.1/10 compared to the global average of 7.2/10

* The importance of stores: 72% defined stores as a place for service; 53% believe stores are a pick-up point.
* Fifty-six percent of directors interviewed believe the store's value may increase provided it shows a joint interest in customer experience and store efficiency.
* Yet about 27% of respondents capture information without using it.
* For 50%, technologies will become decisive in revolutionising in-store purchasing.
* Top-three store projects to improve store efficiency: Online-based services (61%), mobile phones (47%), social clientelling (47%).

Italy: The importance of stores has been rising: 7.4/10 compared to the global average of 6.5/10

* The importance of stores: 85% defined stores as a place for service; 46% believe stores are a pick-up point.
* Forty-nine percent of directors interviewed believe the store's value may increase provided it shows a joint interest in customer experience and store efficiency.
* Yet about 21% of respondents capture information without using it.
* For 77%, technologies will become decisive in revolutionising in-store purchasing.
* Top-three store projects to improve store efficiency: Social clientelling (54%), loss-prevention tool (44%), back-office integration (44%).

United Kingdom: Sales are the main concern at this time for 72% compared to the global average of 63%

* The importance of stores: 87% defined stores as a place for service; 66% believe stores are a pick-up point.
* Fifty-nine percent of directors interviewed believe the store's value may increase provided it shows a joint interest in customer experience and store efficiency.
* Yet about 13% of respondents capture information without using it.
* For 72%, technologies will become decisive in revolutionising in-store purchasing.
* Top-three store projects to improve store efficiency: Mobile phones (66%), online-based services (59%), loss-prevention tool (56%).

Retail solutions from Fujitsu

The retail industry is changing at an unprecedented pace. Cross-border expansion, multi-channel shopping, the mobile device and smarter back-office technologies are transforming shopper expectations and experience, as well as store operating models and business performance. Retail executives are looking to stay ahead of the curve and drive profit by offering a differentiated customer experience and increased business efficiency.

Fujitsu works with retailers to help them master these challenges, using IT to take the customer experience and business efficiency to the next level. Building on a deep understanding of retailing that it has gained over the past 30 years with more than 500 customers and 82 000 stores, Fujitsu's mission is to deliver a differentiated customer experience that will increase sales, operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction for its retail clients.

It delivers high-performance, best-of-breed hardware solutions, integrated software applications and multi-vendor life cycle support services to help retailers around the world deliver on their brand promises and operate more effectively.

Spanning front- and back-office, its portfolio includes point-of-sale, mobile and self-service solutions, end-to-end retail business applications including business analytics, customer loyalty and dynamic digital media, and a suite of managed IT services across the store, networks, applications and infrastructure.

Fujitsu is the emerging leader in cloud and representing the role of cloud technology and services for today's retailers.

Online resources

* Fujitsu Retail Solutions: http://www.fujitsu.com/fts/solutions/industry/retail/
* White Paper: Retailing Without Walls
* Brochure: Fujitsu in Retail - Driving the Change
* Read the Fujitsu blog: http://blog.ts.fujitsu.com/
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