Retail Technology: Trends & IT Market Size Report
Key Takeaways:
- Retail Industry technology spend is projected to reach $131.6 billion in the next 12 months.
- The United States is the largest market for IT in the Retail industry by more than 7x versus the next highest spender (Germany).
- The top ten Core ERP products for Retail companies are all developed by SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft.
- 44% of IT spending by Retail companies will go toward IT Services, 28% will be spent on Software, 16% on Hardware, and 12% on Communications.
- Retail industry technology trends like AI and machine learning, omnichannel experiences, and data analytics are impacting IT adoption and spend.
The retail industry is more technologically connected than anyone could have imagined 30 years ago. Customers still shop in brick-and-mortar retail stores; but they also shop online, through social media, in marketplaces, and elsewhere — demonstrating the complexity of the buyer journey. Customer loyalty is harder to win than ever.
The foundation for those customer experiences is the technology each retailer deploys.
HG’s data can uncover how retailers are investing in IT across various categories, regions, and buyer profiles. According to the HG platform, 301,000 companies in the Ecommerce and Retail industry will spend $131.6 billion on IT over the next 12 months.
This report analyzes Retail technology trends in IT adoption, usage, and spend, including the leading vendors and products across five key categories. All data and insights were uncovered with the HG Market Intelligence Platform over a forecast period of December, 2024 to December, 2025.
Retail Technology Trends
Here are three retail technology trends we are keeping an eye on and using to shape our market analysis:
1. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)
As AI continues to spread through every industry, retail continues its long history of being a testing ground for the technology. Amazon’s first version of its Recommendation system launched in the early 2000s, and since then personalized shopping recommendations – powered by AI and ML algorithms – have propagated across the industry.
Where to next? AI has a number of exciting use cases for retail: Predictive data analytics, dynamic price optimization based on real-time data, personalized marketing, and even applications in brick and mortar stores like “smart” shelves video analysis.
We’re already seeing a number of popular uses for Generative AI in particular – from chatbots for customer service to product description drafting – all of which can improve operational efficiency and enhance customer experience.
2. Omnichannel shopping experience
Consumer expectations for a seamless omnichannel experience are sky-high. Retailers will be analyzing existing infrastructure to ensure it aligns with their visions of the future, needing strong integrations between their commerce platforms and other key systems like inventory management and customer databases.
3. Data analytics and insights
According to PwC, retailers that invest in customer data and implement specific use cases can expect a 3%-5% increase in contribution margin. Retailers are using integration solutions to pool data from different sources and leverage AI and ML to turn that data into insights.
Retail Industry Market Size for IT
HG’s data projects the Retail industry market size for IT will reach $131.6 billion over the next 12 months. Of the 4.3 million companies in the HG database, our analysis identified 301,000 businesses in the Ecommerce and Retail Trade industry spending money on IT solutions.
IT Spend in Retail Industry (by Region)
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
Retail companies in the AMER region spend nearly twice as much on IT – $73.4 billion– versus EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). APAC (Asia Pacific) accounts for only 15.4% of global IT spend in the Retail industry.
Retail Industry Market Size for IT (by Country)
| Country | Total Spend | Total Companies |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America | $66,181,306,668 | 165,096 |
| Germany | $8,791,685,318 | 10,511 |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland | $7,242,812,763 | 19,643 |
| Japan | $7,051,411,490 | 8,050 |
| China | $5,730,563,175 | 6,636 |
| France | $3,845,013,838 | 7,236 |
| Canada | $3,609,363,987 | 12,439 |
| Netherlands | $2,200,962,505 | 3,397 |
| Italy | $1,981,148,210 | 4,354 |
| Australia | $1,688,394,101 | 9,129 |
The United States is the largest market for IT in the Retail industry by more than 7x versus Germany, the next highest spender. The country dwarfs other markets in the number of companies spending on IT as well, making up nearly 55% of all buyers globally.
Retail Market Size by IT Category
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
IT buyers in the Ecommerce and Retail industry are projected to spend $57.3 billion on IT Services in the coming 12 months, accounting for 44% of total spending. Retailers will spend $37 billion on Software ( 28%), $20.9 billion on Hardware ( 16%), and $15.4 billion on Communications ( 12%).
Retail Industry Market Share for IT: Top Vendors and Products
Using the HG platform, we’ve analyzed the Retail industry market share for IT vendors and products across five key IT categories: Cloud Services, Security Software, Core ERP, Database Management, Business Intelligence.
Cloud Services in the Retail Industry
According to HG’s data, Ecommerce and Retail companies will spend $21.3 billion on Cloud Computing Services in the next 12 months.
Top Cloud Services Vendors
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
The three largest global cloud companies – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and Google Cloud – lead by Retail Industry market share. AWS has nearly 6x the detected installations versus Microsoft and 14x versus Google Cloud.
Top Cloud Services Products
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
Four of the top five Cloud Services products in the Retail Industry come from Amazon: AWS, Amazon Web Hosting, Amazon EC2, and Amazon S3.
Security Software in the Retail Industry
HG’s data projects that companies in the Retail industry will spend $2.6 billion on Security Software over the coming 12 months.
Top Security Software Vendors
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
For the Ecommerce and Retail industry, Cloudflare rises above other Software Security vendors by Retail Industry market share with 63,411 detected installations.
Top Security Software Products
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
For buyers in the Ecommerce and Retail industry, the top Core ERP providers are SAP ( 11,890 detected installs), Oracle ( 6,465 buyers when combined with NetSuite), and Microsoft ( 6,079 installs).
Core ERP for the Retail Industry
HG’s data projects that businesses in the Ecommerce and Retail industry will spend $5.9 billion on Core ERP Systems in the next 12 months.
Top Core ERP Vendors
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
For buyers in the Ecommerce and Retail industry, the top Core ERP providers by Retail Industry market share are SAP ( 11,890 detected installs), Oracle ( 6,465 buyers when combined with NetSuite), and Microsoft ( 6,079 installs).
Top Core ERP Products
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
- SAP – ERP, S/4HANA, ERP Central Component (ECC), etc.
- Oracle – NetSuite, E-Business Suite, Fusion Cloud ERP, Fusion
- Microsoft – Dynamics, Dynamics NAV
Retail Database Management Systems
HG’s data projects that businesses in the Retail industry will spend $2.1 billion on Database Management Systems over the next 12 months.
Top Database Management System Vendors
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
Microsoft, Oracle, and PostgreSQL have the largest Retail Industry market share by technology installations among Database Management System vendors.
Top Database Management System Products
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
- Microsoft: SQL Server ( 8,942 detected installs), Access ( 6,534), and Transact-SQL ( 3,022)
- Oracle: MySQL ( 7,045 installs), Database ( 3,060), and PL/SQL ( 2,863)
Business Intelligence (BI) in the Retail Industry
HG data projects that Ecommerce and Retail companies will spend $1.9 billion on Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics Tools in the next 12 months.
Top Business Intelligence Vendors
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
Microsoft is leading among BI vendors by market share with 12,321 detected installations at Retail companies.
Top Business Intelligence Products
Source: This data was uncovered with HG Market Intelligence and includes only businesses with registered addresses
Microsoft is the developer of Power BI, the top BI product for the Retail industry with 11,888 detected installations.