NEW YORK – Technology is both disrupting and revitalizing retail, according to a new report by Fung Business Intelligence Centre Global Retail & Technology (FBIC), as reported in Chain Store Age.

Advances in technology are creating an environment where people are constantly connected online, creating new ways for retailers to interact with their shoppers. These emerging technologies have the potential to disrupt retail, placing new pressures on stores to produce a seamless, omnichannel shopping experience for consumers, and providing new business models for retailers.

According to the FBIC report “Retail in the New Connected World,” the first in a series reports called “The Disruptors Series” some of the newer technologies dramatically influencing shopper behavior and experience include smartphone sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMs), mobile apps, cloud computing and beacons.

“The marriage of retail and technology is rapidly changing the retail landscape and providing a plethora of new opportunities for brands, retailers and consumers. Consumer choices that were unimaginable ten years ago are now at our fingertips," said Deborah Weinswig, FBIC executive director and head of global retail & technology.

These disruptive technologies create challenges for retailers: the technologies are still evolving, and their implementation requires embracing new business models. There are also challenges to adoption that retailers must consider, including privacy and security concerns on the part of shoppers.

"Overcoming these obstacles will take time, but retailers that do not master new technologies will be victims of disruption rather than the disruptors,” Weinswig said.