Retailers spent $10 billion (£7billion) on e-commerce technologies during the first three months of the Covid-19, and more than half of UK retailers are expecting to increase spending on supply chain and logistics technologies over the next 12 months.
According to a survey of 4,200 Chief Information Officers at retailers globally, conducted by Harvey Nash and KPMG, increasing spending on supply chain and logistics technologies is a priority for 2021.
The survey found that more than half (57%) of UK retailers expected IT and technology budgets to increase over the next 12 months with supply chain and logistics technologies ranking third when it comes to technology investments next year, behind business intelligence and customer experience technologies.
The survey found that, globally, almost half of retailers were forced to transformed operations digitally to cope with the impact of the pandemic.
However, for three in ten surveyed, the main difficulty cited was coping with an upsurge in demand driven through online channels.
The survey found that as as a result of the need to develop and enhance digital channels 82% of retailers in the UK said were expecting their headcount of technology employees throughout the supply chain to either increase or stay the same in 2021.
Bev White, Chief Executive of the Harvey Nash Group, said: “Covid-19 means the High Street may never be the same again – accelerating digital as the default mode for growing numbers of customers.
“Although there have been significant job losses on the high street, the massive online consumer demand throughout the pandemic has offset some of these losses by creating tech jobs across the sector.”
