Understanding Total Cost of Ownership in Building an Advanced Store Systems Business Case - Sponsored Whitepaper

Understanding Total Cost of Ownership in Building an Advanced Store Systems Business Case

Retailers are working overtime to firmly establish their competitive place in an industry where hypercompetition reigns and macroeconomic challenges such as higher energy and housing costs increasingly impact the consumer's wallet. Many merchants see the opportunity to create a new shopping experience supported by advanced store systems technology as the best path to improving business performance on all levels, including higher sales, improved profits, and increased customer satisfaction. But the approaches and models used to assess point-of-sale (POS) technology platforms have broadened far beyond just capital investment, and new Global Retail Insights research has shown that retailers across different segments often view their investment priorities differently. Global Retail Insights has identified a number of important criteria for evaluating both the true costs and the key business value of a new store systems strategy.

This white paper provides a detailed view of the considerations required to evaluate advanced store systems platforms and how to ensure that the retailer's business priorities are fully addressed in the business value analysis. It examines the importance of using a total cost of ownership (TCO) model as a more accurate reflection of investment cost and benefit than mere asset purchase. It analyzes research results that show the different store systems evaluation priorities used by different retail industry segments and provides sample retailer models and financial metrics to use as guides, concluding with a review of the full value proposition that can result from a broad, strategic investment in new retail POS technologies.

January 2008, Global Retail Insights #GRI210287

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