As part of a wider report in conjunction with the Retail Week Technology & Ecommerce Summit, IT leaders discuss how technology has evolved.

Omnichannel has changed everything. “We’ve had to really strengthen our architectural capability and ensure what’s driving that is the customer,” says the head of IT customer relationship of a grocery chain.

This July, in the space of a fortnight, Marks & Spencer’s new website took a nosedive, Facebook introduced a ‘buy’ button and John Lewis claimed that click-and-collect volumes might eclipse home delivery this Christmas.

Three different businesses and three different retail elements, but all three are connected by one thing: technology. In 14 days a lot can change in retail, and IT is almost always the cause. More often than not it’s the accelerator too.

The internet has revolutionised the way people shop and IT departments are evolving to cope with it. And fast. The pace of change is, as the leaders interviewed here suggest, electric and no-one can afford to be left behind. “Our investment in IT is many more times what it was just four years ago. Our sector has been revolutionised by omnichannel,” says the IT director of a large retail chain.

The chief information officer of a fashion retailer adds: “If you stand still you actually end up going backwards. You also lose engagement if you take the ‘computer says no’ attitude.”

In a report that will be published to tie-in with the Tech & Ecomm Summit on September 17 and 18, Retail Week looks at how the team around the IT director has evolved, how structures have changed, whether investment has increased and the challenges faced. Through a series of anonymous interviews with top-level IT and ecommerce leaders, the report investigates whether the IT department is now a profit generator rather than a cost saver.

The details

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The full report will be available to download in September.

For more information on the Tech & Ecomm Summit please visit Retail-week.com/techecom.

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On this last point, the IT leaders interviewed – directors, chief information officers, chief executives, heads of ecommerce and marketing directors – are split. Half say the shift has happened, while 20% are not quite so sure. The remaining 30% believe that IT has to be both. “It hasn’t changed from a cost saver, but it needs to. We’re certainly seen as an enabler though,” says the head of IT at a premium fashion retailer.

To this end, investment in IT departments has surged, with four, five or six times as much being ploughed into IT budgets compared with just a couple of years ago. This is allowing multichannel retailers, in particular, to move from legacy systems to more agile processes. Several of the retailers interviewed say the big software houses need to up their game, however, as retailers look for robust infrastructure solutions and disruptive technology to meet consumer expectations.

“If you stand still you actually end up going backwards”

Chief information officer of a fashion retailer

Omnichannel has changed everything. “We’ve had to really strengthen our architectural capability and ensure what’s driving that is the customer,” says the head of IT customer relationship of a grocery chain.

And herein lies one of the great challenges for today’s IT department. Traditionally seen as the team to keep the lights on, they are now required to provide the light-bulb moments that will put a retailer one step ahead of the competition. This is a big change. “IT traditionally used a command and control approach, but increasingly it has to be about the development of solutions – and that’s a very different mindset,” says the IT and ecommerce director of a fashion retailer. Thereis a new role for IT in not just delivering technology but developing digital ideas – both online and in-store.

The role of IT in ecommerce has been well documented, but the interviews in the report reveal that the next big opportunity for IT will be to provide inspiration to improve the in-store experience.

With myriad technology available – from virtual shopping rooms to bluetooth beacons – the trick is choosing the ones that will resonate with customers and provide a sales uplift.

One week it’s beacons and the next it’s Google Glass – it’s very easy to get carried away, says the online trading director of a department store. Judgement is critical. “If we want to introduce same-day delivery or in-store wi-fi, we need to know what the impact will be on sales,” says the director.

Risk has, however, been recalibrated, allowing retailers to try new innovations and manage “unexpected” consumer behaviour as shoppers flit between channels.

Retail Week Hackathon

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The Retail Week Hackathon is bringing retailers and start-ups together to tackle the critical issue of creating the ultimate customer experience.

The hackathon will run in parallel to the Retail Week Technology & Ecommerce Summit, and will provide an innovative, inspirational and exciting 24 hours that will change the way you think.

For more information, contact Annie Phang:

T: 020 3033 2653

E: annie.phang@emap.com

Consumer facing IT

For some changes, the results are easy to measure, but in many cases technology is having a less tangible impact. One recent study showed that investment in omnichannel was, for a third of UK retailers, simply the “need to compete”. Just 16% said pre-defined return on investment was the motivation.

What is perhaps clearer is the recognition at board level of the role IT now plays in pushing growth, building brand awareness and driving loyalty.

“Perhaps it should be called the department of innovation and technology”

Chief executive of a fashion retailer

“Perhaps it should be called the department of innovation and technology,” says the chief executive of a fashion retailer. This is filtering down through the business: all those interviewed say they are now working more closely with other departments. The ‘closed door, headphones on’ image of the IT department has been replaced with an open house bursting with ideas.

One in four say the department is now definitely more consumer facing, while some of those interviewed note how IT is now involved in the “selling of ideas”, once very much the domain of the retail or marketing teams. The skills required to work in the team have therefore changed. “Anyone I employ has to be a face for the department and not look stupid in the process,” says the chief information officer of a fashion retailer.

Retail is in essence a simple business: retailers buy stuff, move stuff and sell stuff. Technology has certainly complicated this. The ability to adapt to change in the present and keep one eye on the future is the biggest challenge. “It’s like fixing a plane while it’s still in the air,” says the chief technology officer of a technology retailer.

As both cost saver and profit generator, the expectations of today’s retail IT departments are sky high. “Multichannel and audio visual elements in-store, as well as improved processes online, have created a far more significant role for us,” says the head of IT at a premium fashion brand. “I believe the boardroom is realising IT can become a far bigger player, rather than just a cost.”

Who’s speaking at the summit?

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The Retail Week Technology & Ecommerce Summit will bring together many of the brightest minds in retail technology.

Keynote speaker Mike McNamara, chief information officer at Tesco, will talk about his work in creating a technology-driven retailer.

He will share his insight into how technology is dictating the future of retail, what a technology-fuelled retailer will look like in the future and the key technology changes affecting today’s consumer. He will also describe Tesco’s culture of innovation and how to lead change within a large organisation.

McNamara will be joined at the summit by speakers including industry retail head at Google, John Gillan. Gillan will speak about wearable mobile devices, from Google Glass to iWatches and virtual reality Oculus Rift headsets.

His session will look into how retailers can make the most of the opportunity that wearable technology presents, and will take delegates on a whistle-stop tour of the wearables market.

He will showcase the different wearables making a splash at the moment and the adoption curve expected. In addition, he will discuss the implications for retail as wearables evolve. Finally, he will talk about how wearables can be used by retail staff and the consumer to improve the store experience.

On the theme of connectivity, multichannel director at Dixons Carphone, Jeremy Fennell, will speak about the newly formed business’s plans to become a leader in connectivity.

Dixons and Carphone Warehouse’s merger will be closely watched across the industry. The two retailers believe that connected devices are the future, and that this new consumer trend will create significant opportunities for the business.

Fennell is in the middle of a huge technological change at Dixons Carphone, and he will deliver an exclusive insight into how the merged retailer is thinking.

The innovation-related discussions will continue on a panel designed to look into how to work with start-up technology companies. Jonathan Wall, group ecommerce director at Shop Direct, will join Stuart Marks, entrepreneur and investor

in John Lewis’s JLab project and Stephen Millard, chief executive at accelerator Eccomplished.

To see the full programme and book your place, go to Retail-week.com/techecom