Nexvu Reports Underutilization of In-store Technologies by Retailers

In-store technologies are being underutilized by at least 40 to 60 percent by the top 10 U.S. retailers. Mobilization and improved placement can be instrumental in adding a minimum of $500 million to the bottom lines of the top retailers in 2012. Nexvu has provided this information after leveraging analytics generated from its major U.S. retail clients.

By moving fixed devices like point-of-sale terminals and kiosks to mobile platforms, retailers can mobilize the in-store technologies. Retailers can also carry out real-time analysis of in-store customer activity and traffic flow patterns. This information can be used to deploy devices where they are needed the most.

A conservative average cost of $5,000 per year, per in-store device was determined by Nexvu through its analytical measures. This results into $15,000 per year for each cash register. By taking the case of a large retailer averaging just one unutilized, or underutilized, device per store, the retailer will still be able to decrease its operating income by at least 30 percent. The complete findings from Nexvu are available at http://nexvu.com/PDF/Nexvu_Mobilization.pdf.

In a release, Eddie Nath, CEO at Nexvu said, “The negative side of underutilization, or the unavailability of devices at the right place at the right time, is lost sales, because it means frustrated customers can’t get questions answered, can’t find products they want, or will abandon long checkout lines. But even if no sales were lost, underutilized devices are at least a half a billion dollar problem on their own.”

Most devices sit idle as either they remain in static locations or customer self-service is not enabled. An aggregate cost of over $500 million per year on the minimum is borne by more than 106,000 locations of the top 10 U.S. retailers. Analytics drawn from working with major retailers are the basis for Nexvu’s measurement of 40 to 60 percent average underutilization.

Nath said, “The key for retailers is to mobilize these customer-facing devices by putting them on mobile platforms and moving them to the spots in each store at the right time where they can serve the most customers. That maximizes the return on those assets, which goes right to the bottom line.”

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