Sorry, this page isn't available for your location.

The page you're viewing is for English (EMEA) region.

Working with our Vertiv Sales team enables complex designs to be configured to your unique needs. If you are an organization seeking technical guidance on a large project, Vertiv can provide the support you require.

Learn More

Many customers work with a Vertiv reseller partner to buy Vertiv products for their IT applications. Partners have extensive training and experience, and are uniquely positioned to specify, sell and support entire IT and infrastructure solutions with Vertiv products.

Find a Reseller

Already know what you need? Want the convenience of online purchase and shipping? Certain categories of Vertiv products can be purchased through an online reseller.


Find an Online Reseller

Need help choosing a product? Speak with a highly qualified Vertiv Specialist who will help guide you to the solution that is right for you.



Contact a Vertiv Specialist

Sorry, this page isn't available for your location.

The page you're viewing is for English (EMEA) region.

Retailers Transforming Distribution, Expanding Online and Turning to the Cloud as They Revolutionize Customer Experience

November 19, 2018

IT space for online channels to increase 20 percent by 2020; number of distribution centres to grow by 26 percent, according to new study

Southampton, UK [November 19, 2018] – As retailers race to deliver more unique and personalized customer experiences, the use of Cloud, IoT and Big Data will accelerate in stores, online channels and distribution centres. However, one quarter of retailers still lag in the process of adopting new technologies and integrating them across operations to present a more integrated customer experience, according to a new report from Vertiv.

For the report, participants included executives from 50 of the world’s largest retailers, with a combined annual revenue of $953 billion USD in 2017. The study, “Into Uncharted Territory: Retail Transformation and its Impact on Digital Infrastructure”, co-sponsored by Vertiv and DatacenterDynamics, revealed a heightened focus on online retail, as businesses transform their digital resources and capabilities to address changes in customer behaviour. Over the next two years, the amount of data centre space dedicated to online retail – both on-premise and colocation – is expected to increase by 20 percent, while cloud hosting would increase by 33 percent to support store applications.

An important part of the retail digital evolution includes a massive transformation of distribution centres. The research suggests the number of distribution centres and warehouses will increase by about 26 percent over the next two years as retail companies increasingly realign operations to meet consumer demand for online purchasing. The amount of data centre space dedicated to distribution/logistics is expected to increase by 10 percent and the use of cloud hosting to support distribution will increase by 87 percent.

“It's no secret that online retail is driving significant IT investment for retailers. However, as this study makes clear, digital transformation in the retail space is about more than e-commerce,” said Lucas Beran, analyst, data centre infrastructure at IHS Markit. "Today’s retailers are striving to improve the IT systems in their stores and distribution centres as they pursue impactful customer experiences across all interactions with their brand. More business-critical online, distribution and in-store environments require new approaches to physical infrastructure to increase IT reliability, speed time to market, hold down costs and reduce management complexity,” Beran added.

The survey confirms that more computing power is being moved into stores to support edge computing types of applications providing greater customer immediacy and influencing them at the point of use.

“Retailers today are evolving their stores as a result of changing consumer behaviour and technological advancements,” said Karsten Winther, vice president of sales at Vertiv in Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Specifically, they are investing to enhance customer experience and influence buyers closer to the point of decision by expanding the IT footprint in stores. This is underlined by our forecast showing investment in stores and distribution will double that spent in the core data centre for the next few years.”

To support their transformation, retailers are adopting new physical infrastructure options that provide higher reliability and are easy and fast to deploy. These technologies are based on standardized, modular designs that are scalable with capacity demand and future-proofed for next-generation technological advances.

To read the report, visit www.VertivCo.com/Retail-UK. For more information on Vertiv and retail digital infrastructure, register for the webcast “Retail Digitisation: The consumer trends driving the need for change”.

About Vertiv

Vertiv brings together hardware, software, analytics and ongoing services to ensure its customers’ vital applications run continuously, perform optimally and grow with their business needs. Vertiv solves the most important challenges facing today’s data centres, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities with a portfolio of power, cooling and IT infrastructure solutions and services that extends from the cloud to the edge of the network. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, USA, Vertiv employs around 20,000 people and does business in more than 130 countries. For more information, and for the latest news and content from Vertiv, visit VertivCo.com.

 

MEDIA CONTACT
Gemma Lingham
T +44 208 618 2812
E gemma.lingham@fhflondon.co.uk

Download Images
PARTNERS
Overview
Partner Login

Language & Location