PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyse the level of adoption of in-store analytics by brick-and-mortar retailers. Web analytics technology has been widely adopted by online retailers, and the technology to gather similar information in physical stores is already available. This study explores how such technology is valued and adopted by retailers.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on interviews and a focus group of 21 retail executives using a semi-structured interview methodology. An in-store analytics service was defined, along with specific key performance indicators (KPIs) and use cases to structure respondents' feedback.FindingsAlthough noteworthy differences have been found in the value of KPIs and use cases by type of business, the main finding is that none of the respondents reached the stage of a brick-and-mortar data-driven company. In-store analytics services are in the early stages of Rogers' (1983) model of diffusion of innovations. Three main reasons are presented: lack of technology knowledge, budget priority and a data culture inside the companies.Practical implicationsThe results should encourage scholars to further investigate the drivers accelerating the adoption of these technologies. Practitioners and solution providers should strive for improvement in the simplicity of their solutions.Originality/valueThis study is the first to analyse the level of adoption of in-store analytics from the perspective of retailers.
Retail SMEs, mainly local and physical, have been one of the most affected businesses during the COVID-19 crisis and yet considered the lifeblood of the European economy. In this paper, we undertake an introductory analysis of the situations that SME retailers have endured. After the analysis of the characteristics of the crisis for retail SMEs, we conclude with three characteristics that companies must foster in such extreme conditions: Resilience, digitalization, and empathy. We propose a framework that gathers, from a point of view of management and organization, some guidelines that can help retail SMEs to assess and improve their responsiveness to the crisis and build new strengths to face the post COVID-19 transformation and subsequent crisis. Together with these reflections, we finally propose some management suggestions and further lines of research.
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