Market intelligence report: retail commerce and finance

ITI Techmedia was commissioned by Scottish Enterprise (SE) to undertake labour market research into the retail commerce and finance (RC&F) sector. RC&F is defined as “the conducting of retail transactions and the provision of financial services using electronic means, involving digital computers, electronic communications and the application of information technology. It includes the buying and selling of goods and services, the transfer of funds and related internal company functions”. The aim of the research was to report on the future market opportunities, challenges, key drivers and potential functional needs of the RC&F sector.

Primary market data were gathered through market intelligence workshops, attended by participants from industry and academia, and face-to-face interviews with key organisations from the sector. Secondary data were gathered from internationally recognised market analysts.

Key findings about the RC&F market included the following: the global sector comprises a significant proportion of world GDP; both retail commerce and financial services tend to be dominated by a small number of large organisations; key trends are having an impact on the sector, for example the shift in the average age of the consumer population and the drive to manage costs; new technologies will create new opportunities for the sector; and the market opportunities identified exhibit different market size, growth prospects and functional need. ITI Techmedia concluded that further analysis of the functional needs of different growth areas would be needed before those with the strongest Scottish ‘fit’ could be selected and used to identify programmes for SE to pursue.

There were no recommendations as this was not within the remit of the report.