The top 10 U.S. retailers can add a minimum of $500 million to their bottom line in 2012 through incorporating mobile technologies and improving placement of in-store devices, according to analytics generated by Nexvu. How can the payments companies cash in on this lucrative POS proposition? Eddie Nath, CEO for Nexvu, shares his advice for the sector.
PYMNTS.com: Before we dive into the report’s findings, please share a little bit about how this study was conducted.
EDDIE NATH: The “study” is simply an aggregation of data and statistics drawn from working with major retail clients. (For customers, we analyze these kinds of metrics on an individual basis, for their use. But, we can then aggregate those individual stats to get a look at the marketplace, and that’s effectively what we’ve done here)
PYMNTS: What were some of the study’s other key findings, and what are the crucial takeaways for payments professionals who might be reading this report?
NATH: The major thing we’re seeing is that beyond the financial impact, which our release discusses, the customer experience is impacted by technology performance and utilization. If the technology doesn’t perform well, then it can create frustration for customers, which is worse than if you didn’t make new technology part of the customer experience at all (Usability is key vs. just Availability). Similarly, when people see things like kiosks with blank screens, or wait in line while they stare at empty cash registers, it can sour their perception of the retailer or just drive them out of the store. Technology may be intended to create great experiences and drive sales, but that only happens when retailers appropriately locate and provide the right number of instances of the technology, and make sure it’s always working effectively.
PYMNTS: For those in the payments industry working on non-mobile POS solutions, what advice would you offer them?
NATH: First, remember that in addition to its primary role, the POS system is a great enabler for data gathering, enhancing brand loyalty and for information dissemination. But also – Focus on customization of the customer experience and performance of the technology. That holds for pure application and transaction speeds; in terms of ease of use for customer self-serve systems; and especially in regard to making things easy for in-store staff so they can work quickly and focus on having positive interactions with customers rather than wrestling with an application or device.
PYMNTS: Let’s look into the crystal ball: five years from now, what do you imagine the point of sale to look like at the majority of brick-and-mortar retail locations?
NATH: We would anticipate there being more personalization, as you see increasingly online; easier and faster forms of payments, which we’re just beginning to see with mobile payments for example; more self-serve, which is a continuing trend; and perhaps more device-based tools so that retailers can move away from long lines and more towards having staff on the floor, engaging customers with help and promotional offers, and with the ability to facilitate payment transactions on the spot, anywhere in the store. There might not be a separate POS system any more – it would be an integral part of the aisle or the store or the cart!
Bio: Mr. Aditya (Eddie) Nath is a dynamic and seasoned business executive with over 22 years of proven leadership, strategy, operations, execution, and business development experience in business performance consulting, high-technology, retail, manufacturing and other diverse industries. He has been a successful entrepreneur, advisor, inventor, and founder over the last two decades.
As a co-founder and CEO of Nexvu APM LLC – a provider of state-of-the-art application performance management solutions for geographically diverse, multi-site organizations, he oversaw the creation and launch of one of the most innovative solutions for the Retail industry – Nexvu RETAIL In addition, he is responsible for guiding the direction, corporate operations, and business strategy for the company.
He has been a trusted advisor to leaders of Fortune 500 companies on their strategic business initiatives including globalization, corporate development, supply chain management, outsourcing, product development, human capital management and business strategy development.
Mr. Nath has a BS in Electrical Engineering from IIT, India and an MS in Electrical Engineering Systems from the University of Michigan. He is also alum of the Krannert Business School at Purdue University and of Kellogg Business School at Northwestern University.
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