Riverbed survey highlights the CIO's role in alleviating staffing shortages, reducing supply chain disruptions and improving customer shopping experiences
Riverbed, a leader in Unified Observability, released the results of the Riverbed Global Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Survey 2023 for the Retail sector, which reveal how providing an optimal digital experience is critical to ensuring the success of retailers facing growing global online competition. Respondents overwhelmingly agree (96%) that providing optimal DEX is essential (59% consider it critically important) to remain competitive as customers' online shopping choices increase. Furthermore, the new generation of digital natives has higher expectations on technology.
Retailers are aiming for seamless digital experiences
Riverbed's DEX survey found that a majority of retail leaders (95%) believe they need to provide a more advanced DEX as new generations enter the workforce. This is especially important in the retail sector, because Millennials and Gen Z make up a larger share of the workforce than in other sectors. The majority of respondents (61%) said there would be a disruptive/reputational impact on their company if the DEX expectations of the younger generation were not met. IT decision makers (ITDMs) and business decision makers (BDMs) say that 73% of younger employees would consider leaving the company if they did not have a seamless digital experience, a statistic 5% higher than the global figure. Retailers, facing persistent staff shortages, cannot afford to furlough employees, especially during the holiday season when shoppers are more active than ever.
“Online shopping, which has been growing for many years, exploded further due to the pandemic, as people turned to websites rather than stores for their purchases,” he said Jim Gargan, CMO di Riverbed. Providing seamless digital experiences for employees and customers has become crucial in a global shopping environment." As businesses transition to a hybrid work model and consumers return to physical stores, retail IT leaders must ensure flawless digital experiences for customers, regardless of how they shop. In this sense, Unified Observability solutions are crucial for retailers, enabling them to deliver exceptional digital experiences that help maximize the dollar value of customers' spend, whether they shop in-store or they buy online”.
After the pandemic, customers returned to shopping in-store while maintaining their online shopping habits. Recent market research indicates that the omni-channel retail experience is in high demand in 2023, particularly with shoppers using websites, apps and physical stores to make holiday purchases. This omni-channel behavior has made IT more complex for retailers, who must provide quality service at every touchpoint, including branches, online stores, apps and store POS systems. To manage complexity, IT leaders are turning to Observability tools to avoid bottlenecks, as 98% of retail leaders surveyed agree that Unified Observability is important (58% say it is critical) to stay competitive and provide seamless DEX. However, 91% of industry respondents identified at least one major obstacle hindering DEX.
Reduce IT complexity and deliver seamless digital experiences
“Businesses have a significant online presence and compete globally,” adds Jim Gargan, CMO at Riverbed. Even initiatives that were once regional, such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, have become international and companies are faced with increased traffic." A CIO's ability to provide seamless digital services and a good customer experience is an essential for e-commerce business."
As multinationals increase their online presence around the world, retailers and their competitors are concerned about technology issues causing them to lose sales. Slow networks and checkout issues lead to abandoned carts, and 89% of industry respondents say slow systems and outdated technology have a direct impact on their organization's growth and performance. As a result, 90% of retail IT and business leaders who participated in the survey are accelerating the adoption and implementation of the Digital Experience. Additionally, Retail industry respondents said emerging and existing technologies that will become increasingly business-critical to them in the next 12 to 18 months include AI (42%), Digital Experience Management (DEM) solutions (36%), Cloud (36%), Application and Network Acceleration Technology (34%), and Automation (32%).
Part of the challenge for retail IT leaders is the increasing complexity of technology, including providing personalized services to consumers across hybrid shopping journeys and moving to the metaverse for engaging shopping experiences. As CIOs implement these advanced technologies, they are hampered by their own staffing concerns; 39% of respondents believe they are understaffed, while 38% have a sufficient number of employees, but without the required skills. To address this issue, 83% of industry leaders surveyed have set aside a budget for IT staff retraining.
A large majority (85%) of ITDMs and BDMs surveyed in Retail recognize the growing importance of IT within the C-Suite, as CIOs battle supply chain disruptions, incorporate AI and advanced algorithms into workflows, and adapt to cashless and contactless transactions. 84% of ITDMs and BDMs surveyed said an IT team member has a seat at the C-Suite table.
The Riverbed Global Digital Employee Experience Survey 2023 surveyed 1,800 IT decision makers (ITDMs) and business decision makers (BDMs) across 10 countries and seven industries, including 300 retail industry leaders. The survey was conducted by Sapio Research in May 2023 to explore generational expectations, hybrid working, the evolving role of IT, and the challenges and strategies for delivering exceptional DEX.
To analyze how IT and business decision makers are implementing employee digital experience, consult the full report: riverbed.com/DEXSurvey2023.
