Retail Automation Market Report

The retail sector has experienced a number of developments in recent years, including pandemic restrictions, online expansion, and the emergence of omnichannel marketing, as well as the challenges of employee retention. Despite the difficulties, the industry is growing steadily, positively influencing the retail automation market size worldwide and aligning with broader shifts observed in the robotic process automation market. The introduction of Industry 4.0 provides lucrative business opportunities for retailers in order to gain a competitive edge in the market. Additionally, the retail automation sector is gaining acceptance and increasing at a rapid pace, owing to the incorporation of analytics in automation solutions, reflecting strong retail automation market growth.

Major manufacturers are leaning towards large-scale investments in automation and AI technology to improve both the consumer and employee experience, shaping evolving retail automation market trends. The high potential of emerging technologies such as machine learning, analytics, artificial intelligence, and advanced robotics to automate operations and provide a competitive advantage among global market players is expected to drive global market growth. Furthermore, the global rise of e-commerce has boosted competition among businesses in this sector, increasing the importance of packaging automation to streamline order fulfillment and last-mile efficiency. Thus, the increased adoption of e-commerce automation that automatically categorizes customers for marketing, standardizes visual merchandising, streamlines tracking & reporting, manages high-risk orders, and other such features is anticipated to drive the global market growth for retail automation, as highlighted in recent retail automation industry analysis.

Retailers deal with a wide variety of business operations. Departmental integration is a critical element that cannot be overlooked in order to properly manage them and align them with business goals, particularly as retailers integrate digital payment infrastructures similar to advanced retail banking system platforms. Additionally, retailers also face a number of key challenges, such as inadequate in-store product mix, inefficient warehouse space utilization, frequent pricing variations, rapid adjustments in customer requirements, and a lack of control over channel partners. As a result, retailers around the world are modifying workflows in order to optimize their business processes to achieve transparency and insight in the supply chain.

Additional strategies, such as digitalization, are being adopted to fuel the growth of the global retail automation market throughout the forecast period, supported by evolving retail automation market analysis and long-term retail automation market forecast models. The adoption of automation has decreased the pressure to stay ahead of the competition, exceeded consumer expectations, boosted revenue potential, and enhanced organizational efficiency. As a result of its capacity to provide end-to-end insight, simplify processes, and reduce redundancies, among other benefits, automation has become increasingly prevalent in the retail business, reinforcing a positive retail automation market outlook and drawing parallels with developments in the building automation systems market.

• Self-checkout systems streamline transactions, reducing queues and enhancing efficiency, contributing to overall retail automation market share expansion among solution providers.
• Automated customer service solutions provide 24/7 support through chatbots and virtual agents.
• AI-powered inventory management optimizes stock levels and reduces wastage across diverse deployment categories within retail automation market segmentation frameworks.
• Predictive analytics optimizes pricing strategies and promotional campaigns for retailers.

Major market participants are focusing their efforts on research and development in order to create exclusive products that achieve customer satisfaction. In order to enhance their position in the retail automation sector, they are also implementing different market strategies such as product launches, mergers, partnerships, and acquisitions. For instance, Datalogic, a global leader in the automatic data capture and process automation sectors, disclosed that it made an investment in AWM Smart Shelf, an artificial intelligence and computer vision start-up located in California in May 2020. AWM provides a comprehensive solution to the retail world, including autonomous / cashier-less checkout (AWM FrictionlessTM), Automated Inventory Intelligence (Aii®), consumer demographics and behavior tracking, and a full software suite, Retail Analytics Engine (RAE), for in-store analytics and reporting.

Again, in December 2020, Posiflex Technology, Inc., a global pioneer in POS, self-service kiosks, and embedded computer technologies, unveiled an innovative new range of kiosks. The HS-3314A series is a 14" Android 9.0 PCAP touch POS system with an integrated printer that is powered by the high-performance Rockchip RK3399 platform and other peripherals. The HS-3314A is equipped with a high-speed, detachable thermal receipt printer and is built with inventive creativity and a compact form. Its revolutionary screwless and modular design not only simplifies installation and maintenance but also enables a wide range of peripherals such as a secondary monitor. Earlier, Fiserv and First Data Corporation announced in January 2019 that their boards of directors unanimously concurred with a formal merger agreement under which Fiserv will acquire First Data in an all-stock transaction. The merger brings together two great organizations to form one of the world's leading providers of payments and financial technologies, as well as a greater value offer for its clients.

Retail automation products and solutions are entirely dependent on energy and the Internet. Unattended terminals, such as kiosks and vending machines, require a constant and uninterrupted source of electricity to ensure that a range of commodities is always available to clients. Furthermore, clients generally prefer to pay online or by card, which necessitates high-speed internet access to ensure quick and timely payments. However, concerns such as changes in climatic conditions, decreased bandwidth, or server traffic can all slow down internet speed. The unavailability of electricity and internet access is anticipated to limit the expansion of the retail automation business. The lack of such infrastructure in remote regions makes it difficult to install automated kiosks or vending machines, which require both energy and Internet access. This reliance causes significant barriers to commercial expansion.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.,  Datalogic S.p.A, NCR Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., First Data Corporation, KUKA AG, Zebra Technologies Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Posiflex Technology, Inc., Tecsys Inc., Focus Softnet FZ LLC, Future Way Technical Services LLC, QR Retail Automation (Asia) Sdn Bhd,  Optimove Inc., Microlistics, E&K Automation GmbH, Napse, Vinculum Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Capillary Technologies, are some of the prominent market players operating in the global retail automation market.

North America is anticipated to hold a significant share of the retail automation sector over the forecast period. The growing adoption of automation technologies by big corporations like Walmart and Amazon is expected to propel the retail automation sector in the region. In addition to this, the United States is seen as a profitable market for retail automation systems, encouraging a lot of manufacturers to relocate there in order to acquire a large client base and achieve economies of scale. Furthermore, Asia Pacific is also anticipated to experience significant growth in the retail automation market owing to the growing connectivity and rising adoption of digitalization in the region. Countries like China, India, and Japan are considered profitable markets for the retail automation sector.

Additionally, an increase in global grocery sales through e-commerce platforms, as well as the requirement to develop distinctive and appealing in-store experiences, are anticipated to fuel market expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.  Besides this, the European region is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the market during the forecast period owing to the increased requirement for automated retailing and warehousing to meet expanding end-user demand. This is anticipated to be a crucial driver in encouraging European companies to adopt innovative technologies. This has resulted in a significant increase in digital transformation operations in this region hence increasing the adoption of automation among European retailers.

Geographic Coverage of the Report:

• Ten-year quantitative outlook for the retail automation market, presenting revenue in US$ Mn, deployment volume in Units, evolving market share distribution, CAGR patterns, and year-on-year performance indicators across store formats and fulfillment models.
• Segmentation of the retail automation market by solution type, including POS systems, self-checkout kiosks, electronic shelf labels, warehouse robotics, and inventory tracking technologies, alongside segment-wise revenue contribution and adoption intensity.
• Assessment of demand dynamics shaping the retail automation market, influenced by omnichannel retailing, labor cost pressures, real-time inventory visibility requirements, and frictionless checkout expectations.
• Evaluation of pricing structures within the retail automation market, considering hardware-software integration costs, SaaS subscription models, system customization levels, and lifecycle maintenance expenditure.
• Competitive landscape mapping that benchmarks platform interoperability, AI-driven analytics capabilities, cloud integration depth, and partnership ecosystems operating within the retail automation market.
• Regional analysis identifying growth clusters in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and digitally expanding emerging economies, supplemented by country-level forecasts for the next decade within the retail automation market.
• Examination of regulatory and compliance frameworks, including data protection mandates, digital payment standards, and consumer privacy regulations influencing deployment strategies in the retail automation market.
• Detailed review of supply chain and value chain flows, spanning component manufacturing, software development, system integration, distribution partnerships, and after-sales service networks.
• Coverage of mergers, technology upgrades, parent market linkages, evolving sales channels, and the structured research methodology underpinning insights generated for stakeholders in the retail automation market.