First-of-its-kind ISG Provider Lens™ report looks at retail tech start-ups solving long-standing industry challenges.

A group of small companies is prompting the retail industry to adopt innovative new technologies that are solving long-standing industry challenges, according to a new ISG Provider Lens™ report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Retail Digital Innovators Report looks at the technology offerings of 10 small technology providers, with products focused on improving customer experience, making in-store operations more effective, and making the supply chain more transparent.

The report is the first in a series of “digital innovator” reports planned by ISG that will look at smaller providers—those with annual revenues of less than $100 million and with fewer than 200 employees—that offer groundbreaking technology solutions.

Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research, said the reports do not offer quadrant and archetype evaluations as other ISG Provider Lens™ reports do, but are intended to spotlight “true innovators that are worthy of our clients’ and our advisors’ attention.”

Aase said in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers are trying to identify areas for placing their digital bets. “Our new digital innovators report identifies some of the cutting-edge solutions they are, or should be, considering,” he said.

Retailers, the report says, are using technology to improve the value proposition of their stores and to complement their e-commerce services. Many are working with tech start-ups to accomplish multiple goals.

One goal of retailers is to enhance in-store customer experience, the report adds. Technologies such as smart carts, in-store personalized or interactive displays and self-checkout digital kiosks are simplifying the buying process. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many retailers to revamp their in-store experiences by allowing shoppers to integrate their personal devices for a near-touchless experience.

The report also sees retailers using groundbreaking technologies to improve the effectiveness of in-store operations. Technologies including out-of-stock detection and computer vision are helping stores deal with low inventories, stop revenue leakage and improve planning. At the same time, product authentication technologies are helping retailers prevent counterfeit products from entering the supply chain.

Among the featured vendors are ones helping retailers make their supply chains more transparent and agile, the report says. So-called circular commerce solutions help retailers track and trace a product throughout its lifecycle, and supply chain harmonization solutions are enabling retailers to plan and procure inventory faster, thereby reducing overall time-to-market.

In addition, visual artificial intelligence technologies are transforming e-commerce, the report adds. By leveraging computer vision and deep learning algorithms, retailers can achieve faster and more accurate catalog management by replacing the hand-coding of product attributes with AI-assisted tagging. Retailers are also using visual search, digital stylists and similar product recommendation services to improve customer experience and increase sales.

Companies featured in the report are Caper, offering an in-store self-checkout technology; Cooler Screens (in-store digital displays); Entrupy (anti-counterfeit solution); EON Group (circular commerce); Focal Systems (in-store out-of-stock detection); Pixyle (visual AI); SupplyCompass, (supply chain harmonization); Vengo Labs (in-store and standalone digital kiosks); Visenze (visual AI); and Wide Eyes Technologies (visual AI).

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Retail Digital Innovators Report is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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