UNITED KINGDOM—Zynstra, an NCR Company and NACS supplier member, published findings from its latest C-Store Technology Insight Report, “The True Cost of Downtime: How Reboots, Shutdowns and Glitches Impact C-stores,” to highlight the consequences of storewide system failures and how convenience retailers are solving these pain points.
According to the survey, nearly all respondents (98%) have experienced a store system failure, demonstrating how prevalent the issue is within the industry. Consequences of unplanned technology downtime, identified in the survey, include:
Lost Revenue: Failures of store systems result in average revenue losses of up to $855 per hour. On average, re-launching systems can take up to 5.43 hours, resulting in $4,643 lost revenue per day, and to return to service, 65% of respondents are experiencing this kind of reboot once a month.
Single Points of Failure: 41% of respondents claim at least one component of their technology stack operates as a single point of failure, while 65% say that one of their store systems has to be rebooted at least once a month.
Replacing IT Touchpoints: The following IT events have caused respondents’ store system failures:
- Security breach—45%
- Hardware failure—43%
- Incompatibility with Windows updates—41% (rising to 88% for c-stores with 251+ store counts)
- Software failure—32%
As IT replacements take place, 47% of respondents say a store technician must be sent to the physical store 50% or more of the time to resolve store system failure, adding another expense to the c-store’s bottom line.
Solving for Downtime with a Software-Defined Store Strategy: When asked where they believe IT can make the biggest difference in reducing downtime across their store ecosystem, 33% of respondents believe more automation of systems will be the key to resolving these issues, with the number of respondents rising to 66% for stores with 501-plus locations.
“This data demonstrates that addressing unplanned store technology downtime can benefit retailers bottom line,” said Nick East, co-founder and CEO of Zynstra.
“The pandemic has accelerated change in the store. C-store retailers require reliable in-store IT to meet new customer demands and facilitate a convenient and safe shopping experience. Transitioning to a software-defined store strategy by virtualizing retail store systems can play a big role in resolving these IT pain points. This strategy reduces the cost associated with managing, monitoring and maintaining store systems, providing c-stores with much greater resilience and control.”
Access the full report on Zynstra’s website.