Brick and mortar retailers are missing out on the opportunity to improve the customer experience and compete with online retailers by failing to automate their pricing and replenishment processes, according to results of research commissioned by Blue Yonder, a JDA Company, in association with Microsoft.

The research revealed 96 percent of retailers rely on manual processes for their pricing and replenishment strategies despite near universal recognition of the benefits that greater automation could bring.

While 90 percent of the 200 brick and mortar retailers from the United States, United Kingdom and Germany surveyed will either be increasing or maintaining their physical store presence, on average they also will be investing 36 percent of their IT budgets in new technology such as artificial intelligence to meet the demands of customers and prepare for the future of retail.