Retailers suffer from a frequent loss of network connectivity, with a significant impact on sales as a result.

•    72 per cent of retailers have suffered a loss of connectivity

•    44 per cent of retailers experience a loss of connectivity every month

•    The cost of a loss of connectivity could be up to 50% of sales for 5 out of 6 retail business operations

CSL, the leading provider of secure connectivity for machine to machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) devices in mission-critical applications, has published the results of a study that highlights how UK retailers are failing to address connectivity concerns and how this is having a negative impact upon operational procedures.

In one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind into the issue of retail connectivity, CSL commissioned Research Without Barriers (RWB) to question 301 IT managers, IT directors, chief information officers (CIOs) and chief technology officers (CTOs) in retail companies with over ten employees.

The results highlight the vital role connectivity plays in today’s retail environment, with 50 per cent of respondents claiming that they could not operate without it. 

The survey found that, on average, 71 per cent of retailers are very or extremely reliant on connectivity for core functions including point of sale, stock management, general administration, shopper and/or staff analytics, tagging solutions, surveillance cameras and intruder alarms. Heating, lighting, customer feedback, in-store promotions, human resources and finance were also cited by 24 per cent of retailers as functions that are extremely reliant on connectivity. Larger retailers with more than 250 employees, however, are more likely to be reliant on connectivity for shopper and/or data analytics, while companies with fewer than 250 employees focus on connectivity for point of sale and general administration.

Worryingly, the loss of connectivity is relatively commonplace, with 72 per cent of retailers having suffered such an event. Furthermore, 44 per cent of retailers lose connectivity every month – an event that three-quarters of those questioned said had a moderate or high impact on core functions, with point of sale (86 per cent), stock management (81 per cent) and general administration (76 per cent) most affected.

For retailers, the repercussions of downtime can be significant, with 86 per cent estimating that losing connectivity for a day impacts their sales by up to 50 per cent. Despite this, more than a quarter (27 per cent) of retailers have no backup plan in the event of a loss of connectivity; a figure that rises to 32 per cent in organisations with less than 250 employees. 

Given its vital role in day-to-day operations, maintaining reliable and secure connectivity is easily within reach. CSL Router has been specifically developed to help retailers ensure ‘always on’ functionality by sending data via a 4G SIM, thereby providing an instant, encrypted internet connection independent of corporate networks at sites where wired broadband is unavailable, impractical or slow. Alternatively, with 4G as back-up it is possible to upgrade an existing broadband service to a private network to provide a reliable failover solution if and when a wired broadband infrastructure goes down.

‘The results of this study clearly highlight the importance of connectivity within the modern retail environment, both in term of business continuity and impact on sales,’ commented Simon Banks, Group Managing Director of CSL Group. 

‘Every retailer should have a contingency plan for connectivity downtime, and one of the most reliable and cost-effective ways of achieving this is via 4G based technology like our CSL Router,’ continued Banks. ‘I was particularly pleased that CIOs and CTOs in retail organisations are very responsive to the possibilities this offers, with 98 per cent expressing an interest in a 4G router that could help them maintain the reliable and secure communications that their critical business processes rely on.’