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Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses
This thesis investigates how South Africa's traditional retail sector adopts advanced analytics amid infrastructural, cultural, and economic constraints. Guided by the Technology Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, it addresses a critical gap in unders...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Information Systems
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613164675268608 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Moloi, Shaun |
| author2 | Budree, Adheesh |
| author_browse | Budree, Adheesh Moloi, Shaun |
| author_facet | Budree, Adheesh Moloi, Shaun |
| author_sort | Moloi, Shaun |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This thesis investigates how South Africa's traditional retail sector adopts advanced analytics amid infrastructural, cultural, and economic constraints. Guided by the Technology Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, it addresses a critical gap in understanding the interplay of legacy systems, limited IT resources, and stringent regulatory demands on data-driven decision-making. A multi-case qualitative study of three large and mid-tier traditional retail chains in South Africa was conducted, involving 15 participants including store managers, IT directors, data analysts, marketing executives, and senior decision-makers. Findings highlight how outdated point-of sale infrastructure, patchy internet connectivity, and frequent power outages impede real-time analytics. At the organisational level, siloed structures and staff concerns over job displacement slow adoption, despite growing leadership support for pilot projects and training programmes. External forces, particularly the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), socio economic pressures such as high unemployment, and intense competition, further complicate large-scale analytics initiatives. Even promising solutions like loyalty cards and semi automated storefronts have yielded uneven returns when confronted by crime risks, transient consumer behaviour, or landlord restrictions. Nonetheless, incremental deployments (e.g., “mobile-first” analytics and phased cloud migrations) emerge as viable stopgaps to overcome resource and connectivity challenges. Findings underscore the importance of executive sponsorship, cross-functional collaboration, and targeted upskilling in fostering a data-centric culture. They also reveal that retailers can simultaneously advance sustainability goals, such as cutting waste and optimising energy usage, by harnessing predictive models that align with cost-saving strategies. Ultimately, this thesis argues that successful analytics adoption in emerging markets hinges on aligning technological ambitions with infrastructural realities and social imperatives. By integrating global best practices with localised approaches, retailers can enhance competitiveness, improve operational efficiencies, and contribute to inclusive, data-driven growth across South Africa's evolving retail landscape |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42467 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:47.142Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of Information Systems |
| publisherStr | Department of Information Systems |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42467 Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses Moloi, Shaun Budree, Adheesh retail analytics adoption barriers technology-organization-environment framework diffusion of innovation traditional retail data-driven culture South Africa This thesis investigates how South Africa's traditional retail sector adopts advanced analytics amid infrastructural, cultural, and economic constraints. Guided by the Technology Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, it addresses a critical gap in understanding the interplay of legacy systems, limited IT resources, and stringent regulatory demands on data-driven decision-making. A multi-case qualitative study of three large and mid-tier traditional retail chains in South Africa was conducted, involving 15 participants including store managers, IT directors, data analysts, marketing executives, and senior decision-makers. Findings highlight how outdated point-of sale infrastructure, patchy internet connectivity, and frequent power outages impede real-time analytics. At the organisational level, siloed structures and staff concerns over job displacement slow adoption, despite growing leadership support for pilot projects and training programmes. External forces, particularly the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), socio economic pressures such as high unemployment, and intense competition, further complicate large-scale analytics initiatives. Even promising solutions like loyalty cards and semi automated storefronts have yielded uneven returns when confronted by crime risks, transient consumer behaviour, or landlord restrictions. Nonetheless, incremental deployments (e.g., “mobile-first” analytics and phased cloud migrations) emerge as viable stopgaps to overcome resource and connectivity challenges. Findings underscore the importance of executive sponsorship, cross-functional collaboration, and targeted upskilling in fostering a data-centric culture. They also reveal that retailers can simultaneously advance sustainability goals, such as cutting waste and optimising energy usage, by harnessing predictive models that align with cost-saving strategies. Ultimately, this thesis argues that successful analytics adoption in emerging markets hinges on aligning technological ambitions with infrastructural realities and social imperatives. By integrating global best practices with localised approaches, retailers can enhance competitiveness, improve operational efficiencies, and contribute to inclusive, data-driven growth across South Africa's evolving retail landscape 2025-12-19T11:56:11Z 2025-12-19T11:56:11Z 2025 2025-12-19T11:53:33Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42467 en eng application/pdf Department of Information Systems Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | retail analytics adoption barriers technology-organization-environment framework diffusion of innovation traditional retail data-driven culture South Africa Moloi, Shaun Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses |
| title_full | Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses |
| title_fullStr | Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses |
| title_short | Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses |
| title_sort | bridging the gap factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses |
| topic | retail analytics adoption barriers technology-organization-environment framework diffusion of innovation traditional retail data-driven culture South Africa |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42467 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT moloishaun bridgingthegapfactorsdrivingretailanalyticsadoptionintraditionalretailbusinesses |