More than a third of retailers lack an adequate retail business intelligence system or business reporting system, according to a new survey.

The survey of 192 retailers commissioned by retail intelligence firm Manthan Systems, found that while about nine out of 10 respondents believe that reacting quickly to industry trends is vital in a recession, nearly four out of 10 (37 per cent) were unconvinced of their ability to identify problem areas.

Manthan Systems head of UK operations Steve Barker said a key finding of the research was that existing business intelligence systems were often not pervasive across all departments of retail enterprises, leading to a multitude of different tools being used to analyse incoming data.

“The consequence is that the majority of the departments inside the retailer don't have access to the information that they require so that they can make the right decisions on a weekly basis,” he said.

“A lot of business decisions are being made on gut instinct rather than hard fact.”