IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v16y2025i1d10.1007_s13132-024-01769-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Role of Modern Technology in Unorganized Retail Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Ritu Narang

    (University of Lucknow)

  • Sonal Tiwari

    (National Post Graduate College)

Abstract

Indian retail industry, dominated by unorganized retail businesses, faces a number of challenges posed by the growth of organised retail sector. It is being recognized that modern technology including artificial intelligence can contribute in reducing disparities between enterprises. The current study, therefore, adopts a qualitative approach to understand the current retail technology ecosystem in unorganized retail business, to explore the level of adoption of modern technology in this sector and to identify the challenges faced by it in deploying currently available technology. A semi-structured, in-depth interview was carried out with the owners and store managers of unorganised apparel retail stores. The findings reveal that small-scale retailers were unaware of the term ‘artificial intelligence’. The majority of them expressed several apprehensions towards incorporating modern technologies into their business operations. This study has significant theoretical and managerial implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Ritu Narang & Sonal Tiwari, 2025. "Role of Modern Technology in Unorganized Retail Sector," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(1), pages 1717-1744, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s13132-024-01769-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-01769-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-024-01769-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-024-01769-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guha, Abhijit & Grewal, Dhruv & Kopalle, Praveen K. & Haenlein, Michael & Schneider, Matthew J. & Jung, Hyunseok & Moustafa, Rida & Hegde, Dinesh R. & Hawkins, Gary, 2021. "How artificial intelligence will affect the future of retailing," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 28-41.
    2. Shankar, Venkatesh & Kalyanam, Kirthi & Setia, Pankaj & Golmohammadi, Alireza & Tirunillai, Seshadri & Douglass, Tom & Hennessey, John & Bull, J.S. & Waddoups, Rand, 2021. "How Technology is Changing Retail," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 13-27.
    3. Viswanath Venkatesh, 2000. "Determinants of Perceived Ease of Use: Integrating Control, Intrinsic Motivation, and Emotion into the Technology Acceptance Model," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 342-365, December.
    4. Ajit Mishra, 2022. "What Sustains Informality? A Study of the Interactions between Formal and Informal Sector Firms," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(7), pages 1403-1415, July.
    5. Gauri, Dinesh K. & Jindal, Rupinder P. & Ratchford, Brian & Fox, Edward & Bhatnagar, Amit & Pandey, Aashish & Navallo, Jonathan R. & Fogarty, John & Carr, Stephen & Howerton, Eric, 2021. "Evolution of retail formats: Past, present, and future," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 42-61.
    6. Das, Gopal & Spence, Mark T. & Agarwal, James, 2021. "Social selling cues: The dynamics of posting numbers viewed and bought on customers' purchase intentions," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 994-1016.
    7. Hamed Taherdoost, 2018. "A review of technology acceptance and adoption models and theories," Post-Print hal-03741843, HAL.
    8. Bartholomew Watson, 2011. "Barcode Empires: Politics, Digital Technology, and Comparative Retail Firm Strategies," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 309-324, September.
    9. Ionut Anica-Popa & Liana Anica-Popa & Cristina Radulescu & Marinela Vrincianu, 2021. "The Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Retail: Benefits, Challenges and a Dedicated Conceptual Framework," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 23(56), pages 120-120, February.
    10. van Esch, Patrick & Arli, Denni & Gheshlaghi, Mahnaz Haji & Andonopoulos, Vicki & von der Heidt, Tania & Northey, Gavin, 2019. "Anthropomorphism and augmented reality in the retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 35-42.
    11. Pantano, Eleonora & Viassone, Milena, 2014. "Demand pull and technology push perspective in technology-based innovations for the points of sale: The retailers evaluation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 43-47.
    12. Stephen X. He & Samuel D. Bond, 2015. "Why Is the Crowd Divided? Attribution for Dispersion in Online Word of Mouth," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(6), pages 1509-1527.
    13. Raphael Amit & Christoph Zott, 2001. "Value creation in E‐business," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 493-520, June.
    14. Dugar, Anurag & Chamola, Pankaj, 2021. "Retailers with traits of consumer: Exploring the existence and antecedents of brand loyalty in small unorganized retailers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    15. Kurnia, Sherah & Choudrie, Jyoti & Mahbubur, Rahim Md & Alzougool, Basil, 2015. "E-commerce technology adoption: A Malaysian grocery SME retail sector study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1906-1918.
    16. Ilsoon Shin, 2006. "Adoption of Enterprise Application Software and Firm Performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 241-256, April.
    17. Willcocks, Leslie & Lester, Stephanie, 1996. "Beyond the IT productivity paradox," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 279-290, June.
    18. Adapa, Sujana & Fazal-e-Hasan, Syed Muhammad & Makam, Sathyaprakash Balaji & Azeem, Muhammad Masood & Mortimer, Gary, 2020. "Examining the antecedents and consequences of perceived shopping value through smart retail technology," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    19. Grewal, Dhruv & Gauri, Dinesh K. & Roggeveen, Anne L. & Sethuraman, Raj, 2021. "Strategizing Retailing in the New Technology Era," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 6-12.
    20. Grewal, Dhruv & Roggeveen, Anne L., 2020. "Understanding Retail Experiences and Customer Journey Management," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 3-8.
    21. Campbell, Colin & Sands, Sean & Ferraro, Carla & Tsao, Hsiu-Yuan (Jody) & Mavrommatis, Alexis, 2020. "From data to action: How marketers can leverage AI," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 227-243.
    22. Dubois, Anna & Gadde, Lars-Erik, 2002. "Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 553-560, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robertson, Jeandri & Botha, Elsamari & Oosthuizen, Kim & Montecchi, Matteo, 2025. "Managing change when integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the retail value chain: The AI implementation compass," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. Grewal, Dhruv & Gauri, Dinesh K. & Roggeveen, Anne L. & Sethuraman, Raj, 2021. "Strategizing Retailing in the New Technology Era," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 6-12.
    3. Gauri, Dinesh K. & Grewal, Dhruv, 2021. "Navigating the Retailing Frontier through Academic and Practitioner Collaboration," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 2-5.
    4. Noble, Stephanie M. & Mende, Martin & Grewal, Dhruv & Parasuraman, A., 2022. "The Fifth Industrial Revolution: How Harmonious Human–Machine Collaboration is Triggering a Retail and Service [R]evolution," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 199-208.
    5. Rahman, Syed Mahmudur & Carlson, Jamie & Gudergan, Siegfried P. & Wetzels, Martin & Grewal, Dhruv, 2022. "Perceived Omnichannel Customer Experience (OCX): Concept, measurement, and impact," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(4), pages 611-632.
    6. Pantano, Eleonora & Viassone, Milena & Boardman, Rosy & Dennis, Charles, 2022. "Inclusive or exclusive? Investigating how retail technology can reduce old consumers’ barriers to shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Grewal, Dhruv & Benoit, Sabine & Noble, Stephanie M. & Guha, Abhijit & Ahlbom, Carl-Philip & Nordfält, Jens, 2023. "Leveraging In-Store Technology and AI: Increasing Customer and Employee Efficiency and Enhancing their Experiences," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(4), pages 487-504.
    8. Breugelmans, Els & Altenburg, Lina & Lehmkuhle, Felix & Krafft, Manfred & Lamey, Lien & Roggeveen, Anne L., 2023. "The Future of Physical Stores: Creating Reasons for Customers to Visit," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(4), pages 532-546.
    9. Bonfrer, André & Chintagunta, Pradeep & Dhar, Sanjay, 2022. "Retail store formats, competition and shopper behavior: A Systematic review," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 71-91.
    10. Jiahe Chen & Yu-Wei Chang, 2023. "How smart technology empowers consumers in smart retail stores? The perspective of technology readiness and situational factors," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-24, December.
    11. Gasparin, Isadora & Panina, Ekaterina & Becker, Larissa & Yrjölä, Mika & Jaakkola, Elina & Pizzutti, Cristiane, 2022. "Challenging the "integration imperative": A customer perspective on omnichannel journeys," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Buyukbalci, Pinar & Sanguineti, Francesca & Sacco, Federica, 2024. "Rejuvenating business models via startup collaborations: Evidence from the Turkish context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Pillai, Rajasshrie & Sivathanu, Brijesh & Rana, Nripendra P., 2025. "Unveiling virtual interactive marketplaces: Shopping motivations in the Metaverse through the lens of uses and gratifications theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    14. Villanova, Daniel & Bodapati, Anand V. & Puccinelli, Nancy M. & Tsiros, Michael & Goodstein, Ronald C. & Kushwaha, Tarun & Suri, Rajneesh & Ho, Henry & Brandon, Renee & Hatfield, Cheryl, 2021. "Retailer Marketing Communications in the Digital Age: Getting the Right Message to the Right Shopper at the Right Time," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 116-132.
    15. Sohn, Stefanie, 2024. "Consumer perceived risk of using autonomous retail technology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    16. Epstein, Leonardo D. & Inostroza-Quezada, Ignacio E. & Goodstein, Ronald C. & Choi, S. Chan, 2021. "Dynamic effects of store promotions on purchase conversion: Expanding technology applications with innovative analytics," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 279-289.
    17. Carolin Bock & Sven Siebeneicher & Jens Rockel, 2022. "The “C” in crowdfunding is for co-financing: exploring participative co-financing, a complement of novel and traditional bank financing," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(9), pages 1559-1602, November.
    18. Hui-Ming Deanna Wang & Foo Nin Ho, 2023. "The Effects of Information Technology in Retailer Performance and Survival: The Case of Store-Based Retailers," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    19. Pillai, Rajasshrie & Sivathanu, Brijesh & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2020. "Shopping intention at AI-powered automated retail stores (AIPARS)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    20. Manis, K.T. & Madhavaram, Sreedhar, 2023. "AI-Enabled marketing capabilities and the hierarchy of capabilities: Conceptualization, proposition development, and research avenues," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s13132-024-01769-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.