Executive Summary

• 2014 is an exciting year for retail technology. In the past decade, e-commerce boomed at the expense of brick-and-mortar retailers, squeezing profit margins in both channels. Traditional retailers are fighting back. As e-commerce growth slows, brick -and-mortar retailers now supplement their shops with online businesses. We are entering an era where siloed e-commerce and brick-and-mortar are disappearing. What emerges is omni-channel retailing, with increased investment in retail technology both in-store and online.
• Technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and 3D printing are fundamentally disrupting global supply chains. They are empowering consumers with the ability to customize products and services and providing them with the ability to interact with previously inaccessible upstream supply chain processes. The International Data Corporation (IDC) sees IoT spending nearly doubling to $8.9 trillion in 2020 as it supports operating efficiencies and higher value customer service. Social media continues to greatly influence the Internet community, and content is becoming increasingly visual (think Instagram). The intersection between online and offline will be facilitated by more sophisticated technologies in mobile devices, location-based services, augmented reality and virtual currencies. All this is possible as Big Data infrastructure matures and accelerators and incubators support these innovations.