Store closures pave way for new Independents on the High Street

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Store closures pave way for new Independents on the High Street.

As the number of vacant high street stores continues to rise, Independent retailers who adopt PAYG EPOS solutions are well placed to snap up prime locations without having to worry about finding funds to cover expensive annual license fees for their IT, according to CTS Retail.

According to a report by the Local Data Company, High Street vacancy rates increased from 12% at the end of 2009 to 14.5% at the end of 2010, which almost triples the National average rate of 5.5% back in 2008. Some town centres are even experiencing a much higher than average rate of 19%.

But as we wave goodbye to some well known brands, 2011 could present newly emerging retailers with the opportunity to get in front of a mainstream audience and potentially become the High Street's next best thing, if they are smart with their start up capital, claims Scott Storey, MD of retail software and systems distributor CTS Retail.

"One of the biggest outlays when starting a shop or moving into a bigger premises is the cost of introducing or expanding IT provision.  Most retailers need to decide how many tills they are going to need and buy the appropriate licenses upfront to avoid getting caught out later in the year when sales pick up, but this can mean thousands of pounds need to be spent on IT before the shop has made a single sale. In addition to this, with online shopping increasing in popularity, there is more pressure for retailers to have websites with ecommerce capability, driving up costs further. In the current climate it could just become too much of a risk and potentially successful new entrants to the market may decide not to take the plunge as a result," explains Scott.

CTS Retail added Cervello to their portfolio of retail software and systems, which includes Microsoft Dynamics, in early 2010 as it is the only EPOS system to work on a zero license fee and cost per transaction model whilst offering a full suite of services within the cost per transaction price. Scott believes that Cervello can provide the flexibility needed to avoid expensive fixed monthly costs and better align outgoing costs with incoming revenue by only paying when sales are made.

Scott believes that Pay As You Go EPOS solutions, like the one offered by Cervello, could help emerging retailers to make the bold leap onto the High Street and establish themselves as a serious player in the market without having to worry about having to pay upfront for expensive annual IT license fees. What's more, Cervello is a SaaS (Software as a Service) which includes system upgrades and support as well as embedded ecommerce capability, all included in the transaction charge so no hidden costs.

"Without a doubt, Cervello is the perfect product to help emerging retailers to take on empty shops and get them up and running with whilst keeping IT expenditure in check," adds Scott.