This report, a discussion material for the “Retail Asia Conference Expo, 2019”, highlights that traditional retailers are steadily losing market share to online marketplaces on a global scale. The relative convenience of marketplaces, coupled with low pricing and ease of delivery, is continuing to attract users away from brick and mortar stores

The report further analyzes (with case studies) how traditional retailers are reacting to the rise of marketplaces by investing heavily in technology (such as AI, ML, smart checkout, etc.). The report concludes that the future of retail will rely heavily on technology and retailers need to possess robust omnichannel capabilities in order to thrive

Other key points covered in the report include:

• Marketplaces are more effectively utilizing their robust customer dataset to better market to their consumers across multiple channels, with retailers lagging behind
• Marketplaces are expanding into brick-and-mortar and differentiated logistics
• “Smart stores” are rising in popularity
• Retailers are also patching existing technology holes through acquisitions