According to a new report by IHL Consulting, retailers are investing around USD 120 B this year in IT and communications technologies worldwide.

Retailers are heavily investing in IT and communications technologies worldwide, to the tune of over $120 billion this year, according to Retail WorldView, a new IT Sizing service offered by IHL Consulting Group. "Retailers individually spend well below other industries, about one-third of the amount per revenue dollar compared to financial services and insurance, said Greg Buzek, president of IHL Consulting Group. "However, what retailers lack in spending percentage of revenue they clearly make up in sheer volume, due to their high revenues."

IHL Consulting says retail is a huge market for IT, one that is growing just over 9% per year. North America represents about 45% ($54 Billion) of the overall total in technology spend in retail, with Europe/Middle East/Africa representing another 28% of the market. While the Asia/Pacific market represents only 15% of the worldwide IT spend, the region’s collective retail IT spend is increasing at a rate of over 20% annually and is expected to do so for the next 3 years.