Smart Retail Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the smart retail market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global smart retail market reached a value of nearly $44.08 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.4% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $44.08 billion in 2023 to $131.67 billion in 2028 at a rate of 24.5%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% from 2028 and reach $355.84 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the rise in smartphone penetration, rise in the use of internet, significant adoption of robots and automation and expansion of digital payment methods. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include data security and privacy concerns.

Going forward, the rising adoption of AI, rise in adoption of big data analytics and IoT and rising e-commerce will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the smart retail market in the future include a lack of skilled workforce.

The smart retail market is segmented by system into visual marketing, smart labels, smart payment systems, intelligent vending machines, and other systems. The visual marketing market was the largest segment of the smart retail market segmented by system, accounting for 31.3% or $13.72 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the smart payment systems segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the smart retail market segmented by system, at a CAGR of 27.4% during 2023-2028.

The smart retail market is segmented by technology into internet of things (IoT), mobile, beacon, artificial intelligence and machine learning, augmented reality and virtual reality and other technologies. The internet of things (IoT)market was the largest segment of the smart retail market segmented by technology, accounting for 24.4% or $10.75 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the augmented reality and virtual reality segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the smart retail market segmented by technology, at a CAGR of 29.2% during 2023-2028.

The smart retail market is segmented by application into foot-traffic monitoring, inventory management, loyalty management and payment, predictive equipment maintenance, brand protection and other applications. The foot-traffic monitoring market was the largest segment of the smart retail market segmented by application, accounting for 25.1% or $11.06 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the predictive equipment maintenance segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the smart retail market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 27.4% during 2023-2028.

North America was the largest region in the smart retail market, accounting for 37% or $16.3 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Asia-Pacific, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the smart retail market will be Asia-Pacific and Africa, where growth will be at CAGRs of 26.4% and 25.6% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and South America, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 25% and 24.5% respectively.

The global smart retail market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 20.95% of the total market in 2023. Walmart Inc. was the largest competitor with a 2.92% share of the market, followed by Amazon.com Inc. with 2.61%, Alibaba Group Holding Limited with 2.26%, Google LLC with 2.25%, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. with 2.22%, Microsoft Corporation with 1.99%, Cisco Systems Inc. with 1.81%, Shopify Inc. with 1.78%, Albert Heijn BV with 1.75% and IBM Corporation with 1.38%.

The top opportunities in the smart retail market segmented by system will arise in the visual marketing segment, which will gain $26.85 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the smart retail market segmented by technology will arise in the artificial intelligence and machine learning segment, which will gain $22.42 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the smart retail market segmented by application will arise in the inventory management segment, which will gain $19.79 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The smart retail market size will gain the most in the USA at $26.95 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the smart retail market include advancement in retail with IoT-integrated solutions to optimize processes, advancements in AI-powered solutions for personalized retail experiences, strategic partnerships and collaborations among market players and introduction of smart vending machines for enhanced operational efficiency.

Player-adopted strategies in the smart retail market include focus on leveraging strategic partnerships with technology innovators to enhance supply chain efficiency, ensure product quality and minimize waste and focus on investment to fund artificial-intelligence push in retail and logistics business.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the smart retail companies to focus on IoT-integrated solutions for enhanced retail efficiency, focus on AI-powered personalization for enhanced retail engagement, focus on smart vending machines for enhanced retail efficiency, focus on smart payment systems segment in smart retail, focus on augmented reality and virtual reality for smart retail growth, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, focus on digital marketing strategies, embrace omni-channel promotion integration and focus on predictive equipment maintenance segment.