How are online- and physical- retail challenges addressable with technology?

Third, 38% of all respondents indicated they were currently using AI-based prescriptive analytics for loss prevention, and 50% planned to use it in the next one to three years. Also:

• 45% of all respondents indicated plans to use self-checkout cameras and sensors, while 46% suggested plans for using computer vision; 42% also indicated plans for using RFID tags and readers within the next three years — specifically for loss prevention.
• 78% of all shoppers in the survey indicated it was annoying when products were locked up or secured within cases. Some 70% cited being frustrated it was difficult to find an associate while shopping in stores — a sentiment that resonated with 79% of other respondents who were shoppers. This was indicated by 21% of all shoppers responding to the survey as the reason for leaving a retail store without getting what they needed.
• 81% of respondents had indicated they were satisfied with the in-store experience, and 79% were OK with their online shopping experiences.
• 79% of all respondents that were retailers or associates (85%) indicated experiencing challenges with offering easy click-and-collect and returns options.
• 78% of global respondents who were shoppers indicated self-checkout options improved their shopping experience, and 68% identified self-checkout lanes being insufficient, as a contributing factor to decisions to leave a store without making a purchase.
• 71% of all shoppers in the survey had indicated they were concerned about the lack of help that retail associates can offer, while 82% of all respondents who were retail associates had indicated it was even difficult for them to find help or ask for timely support when needed. Then, 90% of respondents that were retail associates had indicated that they believe they can provide better customer experience when they have mobile tools to help simplify real-time communication and prioritize tasks as well as check prices and inventory. For that, 75% of all retailers had indicated planning to increase their technology investments in 2025.
• 39% of all respondents indicated believing that generative AI will have an extremely significant impact on inventory management and demand forecasting, while 46% cited plans to automate product locating and item-level RFID, video monitoring (45%) and stock-out alerts (45%) to give associates and shoppers real-time inventory visibility.
• Regional Sentiments:
• Among respondents from the parts of the Asia Pacific region surveyed, 80% of decision-makers had cited plans to boost investments in supply chain, more than that of respondents from other regions in the survey.
• 66% of respondents (shoppers) from the parts of Latin America in the survey cited ever leaving stores without all the items they needed, the highest among all respondents.
• In the North America respondents, 57% of decision makers had noted an increase in retail shrink rates in the past 12 months: the highest among counterparts in the data.
• An estimated 60% of Europe respondents who were decision-makers had cited plans to use RFID tags and sensors in the next five years.