Mobile POS and in-store fulfilment sound like big-retailer projects, but the same survey shows many retailers are unsure what technology pays back. This guide uses the Jumpmind and Retail Systems Research (RSR) survey, reported by Retail Dive in November 2025, to show what growing retailers plan and how a small shop might use that. The sample is 112 North American retailers and the survey was sponsored by a software vendor, so treat it as a pointer, not a Singapore benchmark.

How many retailers can’t keep up with technology change?

54% of North American retailers say they can’t keep up with the pace of technological change, in a Jumpmind and Retail Systems Research survey of 112 retailers reported by Retail Dive (2025). If you feel behind, you’re in the majority.

That’s useful context for a small shop. The goal isn’t to match every new tool. It’s to pick the few that fix a real problem.

How many are unsure new technology will help?

37% are unsure whether new technology will help or distract their business, according to the same survey. More than a third of retailers are asking the question you should be asking.

A simple test helps. Write down the cost of the problem today, such as the hours spent counting stock or the sales lost to stock-outs, before you look at any tool.

How many struggle to prove the return on store tech?

Nearly half say they struggle to quantify the return on their in-store technology enhancements, according to the survey. Buying the tool is the easy part. Measuring what it changed is harder.

Set a number before you start. For example, decide that a mobile till should cut queue time at the weekend, then check it after a month.

What stops retailers adopting consumer-facing tools?

34% say they can’t keep up with consumer adoption of new tech tools, and about 34% say investing in them is too expensive, according to the survey. Cost and speed are the two barriers.

For a small shop, cost is often the deciding factor. Look for tools you can start on one counter and add to later, rather than a full rollout on day one. In Singapore, over 75% of SME retailers have adopted entry-level solutions and 45% intermediate ones, according to Enterprise Singapore and IMDA (2026), so most shops are mid-journey too.

Related: Why a Singapore shop’s POS should share stock with its online store

Who counts as a retail winner in the survey?

Winners are retailers with 7% or more year-over-year sales growth, according to the survey. That’s the group whose plans are worth studying.

It’s a single-year growth measure, so it doesn’t prove that their technology choices caused the growth. It shows what growing retailers say they’re planning.

Winners in the survey are retailers with 7% or more year-over-year sales growth, and 63% of them are rolling out in-store fulfilment tools (Jumpmind and Retail Systems Research, via Retail Dive, 2025).

What are the winners planning for point of sale?

Two-thirds of winners plan to use mobile devices as point-of-sale terminals, according to the survey. In practice, that means taking payment on a tablet or phone anywhere in the shop.

The benefit is flexibility. A mobile till lets staff serve customers on the shop floor at busy times, and it needs less counter space.

Two-thirds of fast-growing retailers plan to use mobile devices as point-of-sale terminals, in a survey of 112 North American retailers (Jumpmind and Retail Systems Research, via Retail Dive, 2025).

What are the winners doing about fulfilment?

63% of winners are rolling out in-store fulfilment tools, according to the survey. In-store fulfilment means using the shop’s own stock to fill online orders, for pickup or delivery.

It only works if the shop’s stock count is right. If the system says three are on the shelf and there is one, the online order can’t be filled.

Related: Why only 2 in 5 SME digital projects succeed, and how to choose business software in the right order

Do most transactions still happen in stores?

Yes. RSR says 80% of all retail transactions occur in stores, and EY forecasts offline retail at 77% of transactions in 2025 and 73% by 2028, as reported by Retail Dive. These are broad figures for a North American context, so they won’t match every Singapore shop.

The shop remains the centre for most retailers. That’s the reason mobile POS and in-store fulfilment get attention: they connect the shop to everything else.

RSR says 80% of all retail transactions occur in stores, and EY forecasts offline retail at 77% of transactions in 2025 and 73% by 2028 (Retail Dive, 2025).

How many small retailers still count by hand?

Over half of small retailers still rely on manual counts, according to the Global Payments 2025 Retail Inventory Report of 200 small retailers, so any process built on those counts is only as accurate as the last count. In-store fulfilment can’t work on guesses.

That’s why the count has to come before the new till. A mobile POS that sells from a wrong number just sells faster.

How do small retailers usually find out an item is gone?

Nearly one in four small retailers only learn an item is out of stock when a customer tries to buy it, according to Global Payments (2025). The report is small, so treat it as a pointer.

A POS that updates stock with every sale gives you earlier warning. Asalta POS is a browser-based cloud POS that syncs sales into inventory, and it’s one option to compare against others. You can read more on the Asalta POS page.

Key Takeaways

• Expect to feel behind: 54% of retailers can’t keep up with technology change.
• Set a measure first: nearly half struggle to quantify the return on store tech.
• Watch the winners: two-thirds plan mobile POS and 63% in-store fulfilment.
• Remember the shop: 80% of retail transactions still occur in stores.
• Fix the count first: over half of small retailers still count by hand.