Products and Services

Advisory Services

IDC Retail Insights advisory services deliver relevant, accurate, and specific analysis across a spectrum of technology and business disciplines within the retail industry. Our advisory services are oriented toward major functional components of the retail enterprise, including global supply chain, merchandising, demand intelligence, and store/channel operations. We also provide strategic insight on next-generation retail technology as well as industry action specific to regions around the world.

IDC Retail Insights advisory services are constantly updated throughout the year so you are assured of timely retail industry analysis whenever you need it.

Research Reports

IDC Retail Insights publishes a variety of research reports to help guide your business investments and plan for future technology needs.

Strategic Consulting/Custom Research Services

IDC Retail Insights designs and delivers highly customized, experience-driven advice to retail line-of-business leaders, retail IT executives, and vendors serving the worldwide retail market. Our consulting professionals have broad industry knowledge and project management experience within all segments and all disciplines of retail.

Project teams are composed of specialized consultants, analysts, and project managers who together bring experience and insight to each engagement and deliverable. Our teams partner with clients on a variety of deliverables, including:

• Strategic benchmarking of retailer IT investments and best practices
• Detailed retailer IT budget analysis
• Worldwide industry market sizing
• Vendor product development and acquisition strategies
• Segment-specific (e.g. grocery, specialty) trends and analysis

Multiclient Studies

Customized research projects executed for a small group of clients. These studies are highly detailed, and provide in-depth analysis and recommendations to the clients for whom the study is conducted. To inquire about a Multiclient Study, contact us at info@idc-ri.com.

Go-to-Market Services

This is a modular set of deliverables to assist suppliers of technology products and services to the retail industry in extending their market reach, reinforcing their market strategy, and producing more responsive retailer and segment-specific marketing campaigns.

Global IT Advisor

IDC's Global IT Advisor access service provides flexible, cross-disciplinary research coverage, granularity in market information and analysis, and timely delivery. It includes company profiles, technology forecasts, market trends, and competitive and international market analyses and is designed for a select client base whose needs vary across a range of technology areas, including IT, consulting, industrial, advertising/public relations, publishing/media, and retail. Click here to download a brochure.

IT Advisory Tools

The following IDC IT Advisory Tools are available:

• SmartAnalysis

  This tool assists senior sourcing, procurement, and asset management professionals with competitive intelligence and market analysis. SmartAnalysis provides exacting peer pricing benchmarks and cost management insights, ensuring decision makers have actionable intelligence and objective data. IDC collects key data so buyers can set realistic, effective goals in custom peer benchmarks built specifically for their needs. Additionally, IDC provides insights into market drivers, sourcing strategies, price assurance strategies/tactics, asset management and disposition strategies, quarterly market assessments, and custom analysis for each customer.

• SmartBuy

  SmartBuy dramatically simplifies the pricing and acquisition process of IT hardware, providing consistent, accurate, and timely pricing and specifications on thousands of systems and accessories. The data is refreshed daily. Having SmartBuy as a basis for negotiations can mean saving hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

• Smart Fair Market Value

  This tool provides accurate fair market values on almost any IT hardware asset, based on the actual liquidity value and resale costs of the products in the market. It saves time and money when establishing financial terms for used IT hardware acquisitions, end-of-lease purchases, liquidation of IT assets, or analysis related to fair market value.

• SmartIndex

  The SmartIndex tool is designed to ensure that buyers will maintain competitive pricing over the course of their contract with their IT supplier. The monthly or quarterly benchmark focuses on a buyer's specific system configurations, providing a comparison that buyers can use as a competitive market benchmark price on which to apply their volume discount. Also available are insights into peer discount levels appropriate for a given volume of purchase. IDC has been the de facto standard of price research in the marketplace for over 15 years and has saved companies millions of dollars on their IT hardware purchases.