Retailers ramp up tech investment amid coronavirus outbreak

Retailers globally spent over $10 billion on technology to enable home working and enhance their e-commerce channels during the first three months of Covid-19.

That’s according to the 2020 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, which is based on over 4,200 responses.

Almost half had to either ‘hard reset’ or transform their operations digitally to weather the crisis. On the other hand, for more than three in ten the challenge was to deal with a significant surge in demand driven through online channels.

As a result, 82% of IT leaders in UK retail expect their tech headcount to increase (45.5%) or stay the same (36.5%) in the year ahead. The three most scarce technology skills are enterprise architecture, business analysis, and organisational change management.

Bev White, Chief Executive at Harvey Nash Group, says: “Covid-19 means the High Street may never be the same again, accelerating digital as the default mode for growing numbers of customers. Retailers are now needing to invest in tech professionals following one of the biggest surges in technology spending that the global retail sector has experienced.”

She adds: “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.”

“Technology leaders in UK retail are also very optimistic about their future tech recruitment plans, with our research showing that the majority are either increasing or retaining their staff over the year ahead.”

The research also found that 57% of UK retailers expect their overall IT budget to increase over the next 12 months, with the top three most important investments being systems of insight (e.g. business intelligence), customer experience and engagement, and supply chain and logistics.