Retailers must strengthen in-store connectivity or risk losing customers to rivals, new research warns.
The study of 1,500 consumers, commission by tech firm Evolve, found that almost half of customers (45%) had recently experienced problems paying, ordering or using loyalty programmes in-store because of tech issues or outages.
Almost a third, (32%) left without purchasing and bought from a competitor when systems went down, while two in three (66%) said they would not go back to the same brand if it happened again.
When connectivity fails, the impact can be immediate. Payment systems being the most visible example, as when tills or card terminals go down, transactions stop and staff come under pressure.
For retailers, the issue is becoming more acute as stores become increasingly dependent on connected technology. Payment systems, EPOS, digital price labels, back-office reporting, security infrastructure, food-to-go operations, online ordering and loyalty platforms all rely on stable connectivity.
However, many retailers are still using infrastructure designed for a much simpler store environment, when the priority was making sure card payments, stock control and core till systems were working. As more digital services are introduced in-store, the demands placed on networks are increasing.
Connectivity has historically been treated as a background utility rather than a critical piece of infrastructure. But that approach is becoming harder to justify as outages begin to affect payments, security, store operations and customer loyalty.
When connectivity fails, the impact can be immediate. Payment systems are the most visible example, as when tills or card terminals go down, transactions stop and staff come under pressure.
Online ordering is another area where outages can quickly disrupt store operations. If orders stop reaching the store, then sales immediately come to halt.
The research shows that these failures are often happening at the worst possible time. Almost half of outages, 49%, took place during the lunchtime rush, when stores are busiest and customers are least willing to wait. In fact, most customers will only wait up to five minutes for problems to be resolved before abandoning their purchase, with almost one in five (19%) unwilling to wait more than two minutes.
The impact is not only commercial. The emotional response to tech failures helps explain why the damage to loyalty can be so significant. The findings reveal that 63% of customers felt frustrated when systems failed, while nearly a quarter (24%) worried about being charged twice or had security concerns. One in five felt embarrassed, while 19% felt angry.
For grocery, where speed and reliability are central to the shopping offer, a customer buying lunch and topping up on groceries is unlikely to wait long while a store tries to resolve a connectivity problem.
Payments, however, are only one part of the risk. Security systems are also increasingly dependent on reliable connectivity, with CCTV and wider monitoring infrastructure playing a critical role in protecting staff, customers and stock at a time when retail crime remains a major issue for the sector.
If those systems go offline, operators can face difficult decisions over whether a store should continue trading and how colleagues and shoppers can feel supported, turning poor connectivity into a security issue, not just a commercial one.
Therefore, the goal for operators is to make sure connectivity keeps pace with the way stores now operate.
That means moving away from a single line approach and investing in resilient connectivity that is managed in real time and designed around the demand of grocery.
If a primary broadband connection fails, a secondary connection should be able to take over. In many instances, this should happen in the background, without store teams needing to intervene and without customers being aware of problem.
Retailers also need better visibility of what is happening across their estates. Connectivity issues should not be discovered once a store manager reports that tills have gone down or orders have stopped coming through. Managed monitoring can help identify problems in real time, diagnose them quickly and resolve issues before they have a significant impact on trading.
Evolve, which provides managed internet connectivity to multi-site brands including Home Bargains and Asda, is helping retailers to take a more resilient approach to store networks.
The business provides a fully managed service that gets sites online quicker, using a range of carriers and connections. Its model is designed to support the systems retailers depend on – from payments and EPOS to security, loyalty and ordering platforms.
For retailers, the message is clear. Connectivity can no longer be treated as something behind the scenes. It is now central to protecting revenue, supporting staff and retaining customer loyalty.
The operators that invest in resilient, managed and monitored connectivity will be better placed to keep trading when problems occur, while those that continue to rely on outdated infrastructure risk losing customers to rivals that stay online.
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