PARIS – Bain & Co. and VusionGroup today released a report analyzing how in-store technologies are revolutionizing retail.
The report, “The Store is Striking Back as a Tech-Enabled Space Driving Efficiency, Experience and Monetization,” was released here at NRF Europe 2025 and draws on a global survey of retailers.
The Bain/VusionGroup analysis concludes that harnessing fast-changing technology is no longer experimental for retailers but is now viewed by industry leaders as essential and foundational.
A majority of the surveyed retailers plan to increase capital spending on store technology by between 5% and 20%, on average, over the next five years.
Nearly half of the retailers anticipate bottom-line improvements of more than 1.5 percentage points, according to the findings from Bain, the leading management consulting firm, and VusionGroup, the global leader in digitization solutions for commerce.
Stores are becoming intelligent, connected environments where commerce, media, and data converge. The analysis sees the trend evolving into hybrid spaces that fuse shopping with media, entertainment, and personalization.
"Retailers are accelerating their tech adoption not just to keep up but to lead. The winners will be those who build scalable, integrated platforms delivering measurable ROI and who future-proof store operations," said Mauro Anastasi, partner in the retail practice at Bain. "Better systems cut costs. Lower costs give customers better prices. Better prices bring in more customers. And more customers generate more data to make operations even smarter. Retailers who master these technologies first will outprice and out-serve others – and the window to catch up will get smaller every quarter as the pace of change continues to evolve."
Bain and VusionGroup report that four key technologies are emerging as central to the transformation of physical retail spaces, aligning directly with retailers' top customer priorities: product availability (56%), price integrity (53%), and better customer engagement (45%), as well as their ambition to improve staff productivity (39%).
• Store staff co-pilots: Almost 50% of retailers are using AI-powered assistants to help store teams manage routine tasks, from inventory checks and price errors to equipment troubleshooting and training. These tools boost productivity and morale, allowing staff to focus more on customer engagement.
• AI-driven customer insights: Nearly three-quarters (73%) of retailers are exploring advanced analytics to localize assortments and personalize experiences. By analyzing purchasing behavior and in-store traffic patterns, AI helps predict demand and optimize shelf placement.
• E-commerce fulfilment integration: Stores are evolving into hybrid fulfilment hubs, serving both walk-in customers and online orders. Technologies like computer vision, demand forecasting, and pick-to-light systems ensure inventory accuracy and efficient order processing - without compromising the in-store experience. Thirty percent of retailers say in-store fulfilment is already deployed at scale in their stores.
• Digital in-store retail media: Smart displays and shelf tags are turning store aisles into monetizable media spaces. Brands can advertise directly to shoppers at the point of decision, creating new revenue streams. Nearly a third (29%) of retailers expect store layouts to evolve to support retail media and experiential formats in the next five years.
Yet retailers continue to face internal barriers to faster adoption, the report asserts. Slow internal decision-making processes tops the list at 43%, followed by security and compliance concerns (40%) and high costs (32%) that the retailer would have to budget beyond their already planned capex.
To succeed with store technology, the report advises that retailers must focus on solving real pain points – such as out-of-stocks and pricing errors while building organization-wide support for change. The most effective strategies prioritize integrated platforms over isolated tools, invest in upskilling store teams, and rethink financial models to reflect today's blended online-offline shopping behaviors.
The report also outlines five key principles for success in-store technology transformation:
• Focusing on solving real pain points for customers and staff.
• Building organizational alignment and change management from the ground up.
• Prioritizing platform thinking over isolated tools.
• Investing in talent and upskilling to support new workflows.
• Breaking down silos between online and offline operations for more integrated financial performance.
