Retail IT competition heats up in Western Europe

Competition in the Western European retail and wholesale IT sector is heating up rapidly, according to a newly published study by Manufacturing Insights, a subsidiary of analyst firm IDC.

The competitive analysis estimates that the top 12 IT vendors accounted for approximately 30.2 per cent of the total Western European retail and wholesale industry IT spending during 2005, while the market leader, IBM, achieved more than $2.9bn in revenue in the sector.

"IBM stands out as the leading IT vendor in the sector during 2005, while 2006 will prove to be an interesting year to assess the outcome of IT vendors' strategies for the Western European retail and wholesale industry. The common foundation in each IT product area is that the higher the retail vertical alignment, the stronger the retail market success," said Ivano Ortis, program manager, Manufacturing Insights.

Wincor Nixdorf was found to be at the top in terms of percentage of revenue achieved in the Western European retail and wholesale sector. SAP and Accenture, the analysis found, stand out as the top software vendor and the top IT services vendor in the sector.

With an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.0 per cent for software and 5.2 per cent for IT services, for an overall IT spending CAGR of 4.8 per cent from 2006 to 2010 for Western European retail/wholesale, competition is heating up as global IT vendors and best-of-breed retail solutions providers refine their vertical offerings, sales policies, marketing, and partnership strategies, Manufacturing Insights noted.