Retailing today is one of the largest, most buoyant and most competitive
market sectors. The large, medium and small retailers, providers of
systems are the major players in this market. The exploitation of
information technology and the use of quantitative corporate models are
emerging as key factors in determining the strength and effectiveness of
marketing plans and support logistics. Many major retailers have
developed considerable in-house expertise in this area and many hard-
ware manufacturers and systems houses have created special divisions to
provide turn-key installations, products and services in order to
exploit these opportunities. However, in the research leading up to the
seminar on which this book is based, a number of important gaps in
retailer useage of systems were noted. While many retailers, including
the large multiples, had very sophisticated electronic point of sales
devices, the information that was available was not being used to plan
effective marketing and selling strategies, nor yet to plan for growth.
In the medium and smaller companies there was still concern whether
electronic point of sales were cost effective for them or whether being
without such aids put them at a grave disadvantage vis-a-vis their
larger competitors.