STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- 85 percent of all retail purchasing decisions are made at the store shelf
- Retailers are expected to spend $10.4 billion on software by 2011
- 76 percent of retail software implementation will be hosted at a central location
- Top three retail software vendors in 2006 were: SAP ($210 million), Oracle ($205 million) and Microsoft ($161 million)
Retailers are set to go on a shopping spree for new applications as the sector looks to replace aging merchandising infrastructure and capitalize on new technologies to transform store and cross-channel customer shopping experiences, according to an AMR Research report.
The industry is already in the midst of a robust growth period, with sales expected to grow 10 percent in 2007 to $7.9 billion, according to AMRs Retail Software Market Sizing Report. Sales will continue to grow over the next four years at a compound annual growth rate of seven percent, reaching $10.4 billion by 2011.