NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), the leading technology provider for the retail industry, released findings from their commissioned Total Economic Impact study, conducted by Forrester Consulting.

Through NCR customer interviews and data aggregation, the TEI study found users of NCR Software Defined Store realized a 164 percent return on investment over three years, with most customers recouping their spend within six to 18 months. NCR Software Defined Store (SDS) is a key element of NCR’s next generation retail store architecture that supports retailers’ entire enterprise. It centralizes software and operating systems across a store so retailers can manage the store as a single touchpoint, rather than maintain and serve software on individual machines.

Forrester interviewed customers with experience using SDS across a large store estate. Before using SDS, the retailers had a hardware-centric, legacy IT infrastructure that was complex, lacked integration and was making it difficult to keep up with modern retail requirements to serve customers.

The TEI study indicates NCR SDS customers experienced:

Improved store performance and efficiency by 10 percent

Fifty percent reduction in unplanned downtime, mitigating revenue loss

Hardware cost savings of $5.44 million

Cost savings of $1.5 million on software upgrade and maintenance

“Creating the experience that customers expect today is a tall order for many retailers grappling with legacy systems,” said David Wilkinson, senior vice president and general manager of Global Retail at NCR Corporation. “With SDS we simplify their operations, so their store runs better than they ever thought possible. It is part of our next generation retail store architecture and one of the most innovative ways we’re helping our customers meet the future of digital retailing with confidence.”