This Holiday Season, Will Retail Mobility Make or Break Retail Performance?

Every year, the holiday shopping season puts extraordinary pressure on stores: higher foot traffic, unpredictable demand, labor shortages, and the nonstop expectation for speed and accuracy across every touchpoint. But this year, one factor will most clearly determine which retailers outperform their peers: whether every frontline employee has the mobile technology they need to execute.

The latest findings from Coresight Research reveal a critical vulnerability across the industry: retailers are entering peak season significantly under-equipped. According to Zebra Technologies’ new study with Coresight Research, one-third of the U.S. retail workforce—7.7 million employees—does not have a dedicated mobile device. Even more concerning, 40% of workers at large retail companies either share devices or go without one entirely. These aren’t back-office roles. These are the exact people who make or break holiday execution. The study shows that 42% of store operations workers, 37% of merchandising teams, 34% of store-floor associates, and roughly 29–31% of warehouse, inventory, and omnichannel fulfillment teams lack dedicated mobile devices.

In other words, the people most responsible for customer experience and productivity are the least equipped to deliver it. This gap directly affects performance during the holidays, when speed, precision, and communication matter more than ever.

Mobility is central to holiday success for several reasons, beginning with inventory accuracy and on-shelf availability. Holiday shoppers rarely wait, and when associates lack real-time visibility into inventory, the consequences are immediate: missed sales opportunities, BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up in Store) failures, frustrated customers, and greater operational chaos. Coresight’s data indicates that 30% of inventory teams still lack mobile enablement, making accurate and timely inventory management significantly more difficult during peak demand.

Service speed is the next major driver of performance. Frontline associates who don’t have mobile devices cannot check stock for customers, locate items quickly, serve shoppers directly in the aisle, process mobile transactions, or communicate efficiently with colleagues. All of this happens during the busiest shopping period of the year, when delays have a direct and measurable impact. Slow or fragmented service leads to bottlenecks at service counters, longer lines, reduced conversion, and in many cases, walkouts as customers abandon their purchases. Mobility is one of the most powerful tools retailers have to maintain flow and reduce friction.

Leading retailers have already begun adopting technologies that strengthen frontline performance well before the holiday rush. Electronic shelf labels reduce hours of manual work and help ensure pricing accuracy during rapid promotional changes. App-based wayfinding allows customers to navigate stores more efficiently while also helping associates complete pick-and-pack tasks faster. Frictionless checkout options eliminate lines altogether, reducing the risk of store walkouts and shopper fatigue.

Strong wireless infrastructure now serves as the foundation for everything from cloud-based POS systems to AR-powered retail experiences. AI-driven forecasting and inventory systems help prevent both stockouts and overstocks—two of the most damaging profit drains during Q4.

Video analytics provide new visibility into shopper behavior, helping retailers refine store layouts and improve merchandising execution. None of these capabilities scales effectively without mobile-enabled associates who can access and act on information the moment they need it.

Looking beyond this holiday season, IoT, AR/VR, and AI are poised to define the next generation of retail. IoT will enable smart shelves, real-time product tracking, and personalized digital messaging throughout the store. AR and VR will create more immersive product experiences, both in-store and online, helping customers visualize items in their homes or explore virtual showrooms. AI will fuel hyper-personalized promotions, more intelligent labor planning, and highly accurate predictive replenishment. Yet none of these innovations reach their full potential—or deliver meaningful ROI—until frontline workers have dedicated, reliable mobile devices that put data and action directly at their fingertips.

The Coresight research does not describe a minor or temporary operational issue. It uncovers a systemic disadvantage that becomes most visible during the holiday season, when demand peaks and every inefficiency is magnified. The conclusion is simple and clear: retailers who equip every associate with a mobile device will outperform those who don’t. Mobility is no longer just a technology upgrade—it is the operational foundation that transforms potential into real performance. To win the holidays and secure a stronger, more profitable future, the time to fully embrace the mobile-enabled frontline is now.