Retail WFM software market to increase at a CAGR of 5.7%

The retail workforce management (WFM) software market has been forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.67% through 2016, driven by the increased demand from small and medium-sized Enterprises, and the emergence of cloud-based WFM solutions.

Competition among WFM players worldwide is increasing, which in turn is leading to an increase in price wars. This has forced many vendors to reduce the overall price of the product. Another reason for cost reduction is the availability of numerous local vendors that offer low-cost WFM solutions.

Workforce management (WFM) encompasses all the activities needed to maintain a productive workforce. Under the umbrella of human resource management, WFM is sometimes referred to as HRMS systems, or even part of ERP systems. Recently, the concept of workforce management has begun to evolve into workforce optimisation.

Workforce management solutions can be deployed enterprise-wide. While special software is commonly used in numerous areas such as ERP (enterprise resource planning), SLM (service lifecycle management), CRM (customer relationship management) and HR (human resources) management, the management of the workforce is often still handled by using spreadsheet programs or time recording.

This often results in expensive overtime, non-productive idle times, high fluctuation rates, poor customer service and opportunity costs being incurred.

Depending on the software provider, organisations have a choice to deploy the software in their own on-premise data centre, or in the provider's private cloud. Workforce management is an appropriate type of system that organisations can access via the cloud through services such as application management and hosting.

One of the main challenges currently facing the market is the limitations in network infrastructure in developing countries. However, due to limited infrastructure facilities, developing countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are unable to provide the necessary support for enabling cloud-based and mobile workforce management solutions.

Key players currently dominating the retail WFM software market include Automatic Data Processing Inc., Kronos Inc., Oracle Corp., SAP AG, and Reflexis Systems Inc.

For more information on the retail WFM software market, see the latest research: Retail WFM Software Market

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