Discerning consumers have been more thoughtful with their spending in recent years as inflationary pressures, tariff-induced price increases, and other economic headwinds put a strain on their budgets. The rising cost of essentials, such as groceries and housing, and core retail categories like apparel and electronics, has made consumers more selective of where they shop and more critical of stores that do not meet their elevated expectations. As such, retailers are undertaking modernization efforts to improve employee productivity, reduce friction, and create a seamless shopping experience.

A key component of these initiatives is purchasing and deploying a wide range of mobile devices, from laptops and RFID scanners to wearables and other technologies, based on store needs and employee roles. But simply rolling out devices does not automatically improve productivity or consumer experience. Retailers need a holistic technology management strategy to drive efficiency and deliver real return on their digital transformation investments.

Too often, device management, apps, and support workflows are spread across disconnected tools and teams. When data lives in silos, IT lacks the context to respond quickly, which slows troubleshooting and leads to inconsistent experiences across locations. Treating the store as one connected ecosystem improves speed, reliability, and decision making.

Key Considerations for a Holistic Tech Management Strategy

A holistic technology management strategy requires retailers to go beyond procurement and focus on areas that include maintenance, security, compliance, and resiliency. These can take on different form factors depending on the employee personas within a store, but at their core, each component enhances productivity to deliver an improved consumer experience.

• Maintenance – As technology is increasingly implemented into stores, retail associates are often given devices without any form of guidance on how to operate or maintain them. This management gap surrounding utilization and upkeep is troubling because it negatively impacts both the software and the hardware of a device. If associates and other store employees are not shown proper device maintenance, including how to update, handle, store, and protect devices, they could significantly shorten the lifespan and take it offline for extended periods of time. With some device replenishment timelines requiring upwards of six months and even a year to replace, a lost or damaged device can lead to a dip in productivity that could cost a company exponentially.

• Security and Compliance – Another area that can lead to substantial financial and reputational harm if not properly addressed is security and compliance. According to recent research from IBM, the average cost of a retail data breach now costs more than $4.88 million when accounting for lost sales, stolen records, legal fees, consumer compensation, and system repairs. Moreover, 50% of U.S. consumers worry about how a retailer stores and uses their personal data after a purchase or return. Without the proper guardrails and policies in place, employees can access unauthorized websites or download non-essential apps to a device that expose sensitive organizational and consumer information to threat actors.

• Resiliency – One of the most underrated cost multipliers for retail operations is device downtime, as it reduces employee output and has a negative impact on consumers. Research shows that the average cost of downtime is $9,000 per minute, and the impact on larger retailers can reach up to $500,000 per hour. For example, if a self-checkout barcode scanner or a printer fails and there is no way to identify the offline device in real-time, a sales associate must stop their work to troubleshoot or salvage the transaction. The impact is even greater when an IT technician must travel to the store to resolve the issue, further increasing downtime. Without the proper workflow considerations, it may take multiple team members and departments to diagnose and address the problem. Introducing more disparate technology and workstreams reduces visibility for IT teams, complicates and slows remediation efforts, and increases the risk of errors.

Devices that are well maintained, consistently secured, and operationally resilient enable employees to stay productive and deliver the reliable experiences modern consumers expect. Retail technology leaders should embed these priorities into a strategy that supports each employee persona, strengthens day-to-day operations, and maximizes return on modernization investments.

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