Retailers may be having to cut back their prices but most CIOs in the sector are not cutting down on IT spending, according to a poll of IT executives in Europe and the US.
More than half of retail company CIOs (51%) expect their IT budget as a percent of sales to stay the same for next year, while 26% believe their IT budget will actually increase, due to projects already underway.
The survey of retail CIOs and IT directors in the United States and Europe found that automatic replenishment applications and real time warehouse management are hot areas, with over 80% of retailers planning investments.
The Aldata/IBM survey revealed that CIOs in the sector are most interested in finding news ways of squeezing greater returns out of existing assets, and making better use of available inventory and space.
The pollsters interviewed CIOs between September 2008 and January 2009, when businesses were feeling the full force of the recession.
Aldata Solution is a supply chain management software supplier headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.
