Over half (58%) of consumer-facing retail workers have identified the rising of global competition as one of the biggest challenges facing the industry, research from Microsoft Australia revealed.
Retail workers are keen to be part of digital transformation but are missing out. Only 39% said they were informed about what their organisation was doing with regard to digital technologies.
A further 49% of retail workers said greater deployment of technology would enhance their skill level, with almost half believing it would enhance opportunities for collaboration and innovation.
Automation was seen as a possible driver behind continued job losses in the sector.
This could explain why 66% of retail managers said that one of the barriers to further technology deployment was getting departments to overcome the fear of massive change.
Research indicated that the current, consumer-facing, retail worker was already technologically savvy, which could play a role in assisting retailers looking to battle Amazon.
79% of workers are already seeing technology become a key factor in improving retail efficiency.
Microsoft Australia GM digital workplace and collaboration Ian Heard said factoring in workers' understanding of technology into customer service could boost retail engagement.
"As rote work is increasingly performed by machines, human interaction and knowledge-based expertise will become more important to firstline workers.
“They’ll use technology to collaborate, to exercise greater creative and strategic freedom, and to bring real value to the work they perform."