Retail sector suffers from power disturbances

Retailers have to be increasingly competitive – pricing, minimizing operational costs and maximizing revenue all need continuous scrutiny – not to mention complying with an increasingly stringent regulatory environment. Unrecognised but very real, disruptive events such as power disturbances are frustrating and financially damaging. The lights go out, escalators stop functioning, tills are frozen, security systems fail. Customers walk out of or have to be escorted from the store. Financial losses start mounting up.

Far too many retailers still rely on inadequately designed electrical installations and are just waiting for a power disturbance to hit their business. In many cases, a retrofit of the store’s building and equipment has been executed without exchanging the electricity supply system for a new and more reliable one. This has been identified by the European Power Quality (PQ) Survey. Power Quality incidents may well “only” account for approximately 1 per cent of the company’s turnover, but that can be up to 10% of the net profit.