Retail Telecommunications, Networking, and Mobile Solutions Trends

SUMMARY

IN THIS REPORT

This study provides the reasons why European retailers are impacted by new networking, telecommunications, and mobile solutions requirements to support the evolution of in-store systems and the broader investment trends in integrated enterprise solutions. Several demand-side demonstrations are provided in this study by presenting the key findings of:

• Global Retail Insights Survey 2008, conducted in May 2008 in France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K. among 451 retail companies.
• IDC's European Vertical Market Survey 2007, conducted from August to October 2007 in the top 5 Western European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.) among 190 retail/wholesale companies with more than 20 employees.
• IDC's European WAN Manager Survey, 2008, conducted among 123 retail organizations in January/February 2008.

The aim of all the surveys was to understand vertical market IT spending directions, IT solution priorities, and investment plans across technology areas, including both horizontal and retail-specific applications.

The purpose of this study is to understand the following:

• Current adoption of mobile and network solutions and future adoption plans
• Current communication solutions budget (landline voice, fixeddata, mobile voice, and mobile data)
• Mobile applications in use and future plans
• Devices to access corporate resources or services in a mobile/wireless environment
• Preferred mobile solutions strategy
• Key barriers to mobile solutions implementation
• Telecommunications strategies
• Competitive landscape, demand-side estimate

Methodology

IDC EVM Survey 2007

IDC's European Vertical Market Survey 2007 is a landmark study of IT solutions, investment priorities, and emerging technologies in over 73% of the European economy. The sample quota consisted of 481 completes for the U.K., France, and Germany (major sample quotas) and 317 for Italy and Spain (minor sample quota). Interviews were conducted in August/November 2007 via a telephone format, and in the native language of each country. SPSS was used to analyze the data collected.

In terms of functional area, the majority of respondents come from the IT department (about 66% of respondents), though a second considerable portion comes from the business development department (8.3% of respondents). IS/IT directors and IT professional staff accounted for 58% of respondents, while CIOs represented 14.1% of respondents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

In This Report

• Methodology
• Mobile Solution Areas

SITUATION OVERVIEW

• Strategic Business Priorities in European Retail
• Retail Networking Technology Directions
• European Retail/Wholesale Annual Communication Expenditure
• Adoption of Mobile Solutions in European Retail/Wholesale

Future outlook

• Do the Current Retail Dynamics Require Advanced IP Networks?
• Mobile Solutions and Wireless Networks Investment Plans
• Mobile Solution Strategies
• Telecommunication Strategies

Essential Guidance

• For Retailers
• For Technology Vendors

Learn More

• Related Research

LIST OF FIGURES

• 1. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, Survey Respondent Profiles by Company Size (% of Companies)
• 2. Global Retail Insights Survey 2008, Survey Respondent Profiles by Company Size (% of Companies).
• 3. EMEA Retail, 2007 IT Spending Allocation (% Share)
• 4. Wide Area Network Technologies Used by European Retailers
• 5. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Communication Budget
• 6. Networking and Mobile Hardware Spending, 2007, European Retail (% of Total Hardware External Expenditures).
• 7. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Retail-Specific Mobile Devices IT Vendors Allocation (Mean % of Budget)
• 8. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Adoption of Mobile Solutions
• 9. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Key Barriers to Retail-Specific Mobile Solutions Adoption
• 10. Advanced IP Networks Enabling Retail Evolution
• 11. Drivers of Network Spending, EU Retail
• 12. Applications Used on the WAN, European Retail.
• 13. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Mobile Solutions Adoption Plan
• 14. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, WiFi Network Implementation Plan
• 15. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Mobile Solutions Adoption Plan
• 16. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Hardware Allocation of External IT Spending (Mean % of Budget)
• 17. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007 and 2008, Retail-Specific Mobile Devices Budget by Retail Segment (Mean % of Store System's IT Budget).
• 18. Europe, Retail/Wholesale, 2007, Retail-Specific Mobile Devices Budget by Company Revenue (Mean % of Store Systems IT Budget)
• 19. Access Technologies Used, Proportion of Sites, European Retail
• 20. Types of Remote Access Used, European Retail
• 21. Types of Access Connection Used for Remote Access, European Retail
• 22. Use of Advanced Communications Applications, European Retail
• 23. Current and Future Extent of Voice/Data Convergence, European Retail
• 24. Voice Data Options, European Retail.
• 25. Types of Web Hosting Used, European Retail
• 26. EMEA Retail, 2007 eCommerce Software and Multichannel Selling Software Spending Allocation