AVT's Retail FOCUS Aids Waterstone's to Better Understand the Relationship Between Space, Layout and Performance

Market Wire, March, 2007

Advanced Visual Technology Ltd. (AVT), a market leader in macro and micro space solutions, today announced that Waterstone's has experienced significant benefits from its floor planning solution: Retail FOCUS.

Oliver Ponsonby, Space Planning Manager, Waterstone's, highlights some pertinent benefits: "Retail FOCUS is not just a graphical representation of a store layout. It contains data and measurements that underpin much of our space performance analyses that give us some real benefits," said Mr. Ponsonby. "Retail FOCUS gives us highly detailed fixture information which we merge with category performance data to build performance curves which allow us to understand the relationship between space allocated and money earned, test whether a relationship even exists between space and performance, determine minimum and maximum space by category, and highlight store or category over- or underperformance."

Mr. Ponsonby further details, "We use these curves to build 'ideal' space templates. These tell us the ideal share of space between categories for stores of different sizes and different types. The templates should deliver the greatest financial return. We couldn't do this work without the space data that Retail FOCUS provides."

In addition to the analyses, Mr. Ponsonby describes the benefit of Retail FOCUS's embedded AutoCAD® environment. "Retail FOCUS automatically captures space dimensions of every category placed on the store plan that we're already creating, so there's no need for a separate team of people to manage a space database." He adds, "Adjacencies and category flow are captured within the store plan. Some of these data are currently overlaid onto our space performance curves in order to understand the extent to which positioning affects performance."

In an interview with Mr. Ponsonby, he defines other analyses and processes built on Retail FOCUS that help this leading U.K. bookseller optimize trading space and profit opportunities. For the complete interview, please visit http://www.avtretail.com/Waterstones_Press_Release_Q_A.pdf .

About Advanced Visual Technology Ltd.

Founded in 1997, AVT provides the retail industry with a unique visual space planning solution called Retail FOCUS. Retail FOCUS unites merchandising, store planning, construction, operation and inventory management into CAD-based floor plans to produce a seamless flow of store-specific merchandising information and an accurate capture and analysis of fixture data, allocated space and adjacencies. Efficient execution of merchandising initiatives, accurate, dynamic floor plans which trigger fact-based layout decision and a higher return per square foot are some of the benefits Retail FOCUS offers. With satisfied clients across the world, Retail FOCUS is a proven global success. Visit AVT at www.avtretail.com .

About Waterstone's

Launched in 1982, Waterstone's celebrates 25 years in books this year. The company now has over 320 stores across the UK, in Eire, on Jersey and the Isle of Man, and in Brussels and Amsterdam. Part of the HMV media group, Waterstone's is the UK's leading specialist High Street bookseller, and its acclaimed website, www.waterstones.com , was launched in September 2006.

Press Contact: Nayla Ammar Advanced Visual Technology Ltd. 1 (323) 957-0030 Email Contact Fiona Allen HMV/Waterstone's Group Plc 44 (0) 208-996-4355 Email Contact