Technology has been a part of the retail industry for as long as shopkeepers have had to calculate how much a customer owes for their purchases, or how much the store owes its suppliers. In the early part of this century, retailers used cash registers to track their receipts. Such registers provided limited access to the store's cash, and accurately calculated the amount due from customers. Today's retailers vary greatly in size from small boutiques to large superstores selling everything from groceries to auto parts. The heart of their information needs have not changed greatly from their predecessors: retailers need to know who is buying their products, what products they are buying, and how to make people buy additional products.
The explosion in information technology that has characterized the last decades of the twentieth century has helped retailers address each of these areas. At the heart of the retail technology revolution is the computer, supported by peripherals and changes in communications that allow retailers to have access to more information than at any time in their history. The cash register has evolved into elaborate point of sale systems which can track not only how much is received, but the type of payment, demographic information about the customer, how many of the item the retailer has in stock, how many of the item the retailer should order, and how the item will be sent to the customer.
Technology now extends outside the store, as well, helping retailers to route their trucks in the most efficient manner, thus improving their customer service level. Communication between stores and other company facilities is no longer limited to two-party telephone conversations, but can include conference calling and electronic mail sent across computer networks. The nation's largest retailers, Wal-Mart and Kmart, use satellite networks to enhance communications with their stores.
Many technological innov...