What Winning SMB Retailers Do Differently with Technology

There are clear technology separaters between those small and medium retailers who are thriving and those that are just surviving.

The study “What Winning SMB Retailers Do Differently with Technology” focuses on small and medium retailers with annual sales ranging from $2 million to $500 million. Within this group, key segments include hardgoods retailers such as home centers, home goods, nurseries, farm feed and supply, gift and novelty, office supplies, pets, sporting goods, thrift and cosmetics and beauty stores.

To provide a clearer understanding of performance metrics, the survey contrasts the technology behaviors of retailers who are winning leaders) and those who are struggling (laggards) to see if there are defining technology differences. Specifically, we discuss Sales and Profit Leaders and Sales and Profit Laggards.

Sales Leaders are those retailers who achieved a sales growth of 10% or higher in 2024, while Sales Laggards experienced flat or negative sales growth. Similarly, Profit Leaders are defined as retailers with a profit growth of 10% or higher, whereas Profit Laggards had flat or negative profit growth. These definitions help to contextualize the data and allow for a more nuanced analysis of the factors contributing to success or challenges faced by different retailers

What’s Inside

• Intelligent Commerce
• AI Transformation of Retail – Leveraging AI for a Competitive Edge
  • Top Operational Challenges Companies Face
  • Current Views of AI
  • Top Use Cases in Operations
  • Top AI for Inventory and Supply Chain Management
  • Top AI in Sales and Marketing
• Retail Data Management Headaches
• Top Tech Priorities for SMB Retailers for 2025
• Cloud Technology vs On-Premises Software
• Key Benefits of Cloud POS and Retail Management Systems
• What Winning Retailers Do Differently