Today, in the 21st century, retailers all over the world are increasingly obtaining profit in return by delivering customer satisfaction through the adoption of many powerful technologies.
Indeed, technology has substantially shifted the landscape of the retail industry, as more retailers adopt and implement technological solutions that accentuate mobility, efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability (Delgado 2012; Fiorito et al 2010). The present paper attempts to discuss how technology is utilized in the retail sector, how it has impacted the retail business and its customers, and the critical technologies found in the retail industry.
Technology is utilized in the retail sector in numerous ways not only to achieve profitability and competitiveness for the organization, but also to generate value for customers and change the relationship with customers and other trading agencies (Ko & Kincade, 1997).
Novel technologies such as Point-of-Sale (POS) systems can be utilized in the retail sector for efficient and effective transactions, proper accounting, “customer loyalty, CRM [Customer Relationship Management], PCI [Payment Card Industry] issues, back office transfers and receiving, time-keeping and scheduling, and task management”(Delgado, 2010 p. 10).
Other technological solutions, such as the Retail Pro system and Microsoft Retail Management System, have been effectively used in retail to, among other things: minimize theft and human error; enhance efficiency and speed in the checkout process; provide extensive tracking of business transactions, discounts and products; avail up-to-date sales productivity statistics; facilitate inventory control and management; undertake purchase order management; and promote customer relationship management as well as payment processing solutions (Delgado, 2010)
Furthermore, some technological solutions such as e-business can be utilized to integrate emerging communication technologies with business processes and management practices via the internet, resulting in overall transformation of the relationships that retailers have with their customers, suppliers and other business partners (Bordonaba-Juste et al., 2012).
In discussing the impact of technology on retail business and its customers, extant literature demonstrates that “web technologies help firms to understand customer needs, to customize products, to adopt product-market solutions, and to take customers’ orders” (Bordonaba-Juste et al., 2012 p. 533).
Retail businesses, in particular, are impacted by newer disruptive innovations such as e-business as they have to reorganize and restructure themselves continuously, with the view to integrating the technological solutions into their existing work processes to achieve profitability and competitiveness.
Additionally, mobile payment programs have positively impacted the retail sector in terms of faster checkout times and the capacity by customers to receive e-mail receipts that are more convenient since they can be stored on a smart phone and accessed more easily than paper-based receipts (Delgado, 2010).
Moving on, it is a well known fact that critical technologies in the retail sector have the capacity to tie a customer to a transaction, and consequently to a broad range of products, not only leading to the opening up of a new frontier for one-on-one marketing (Delgado, 2010), but also substantially changing the way business is conducted through availing important data both within the organization and to suppliers, channel partners and customers (Bordonaba-Juste et al., 2012).
Such capabilities have been known to significantly reduce customers’ search-related costs, facilitate the speed of reaction to important market information, provide a better shopping experience, decrease stock-out rate, improve inventory and replenishment rates, assist retailers to predict what is likely to occur and decide what to do next, and enhance access to new products in new channels, hence positively affecting the retailer’s bottom-line in terms of profits and competitive advantage (Fiorito et al., 2010; Ko & Kincade, 1997; Puleri, 2011).
However, a major negative impact of technology on retailers concerns the fact that “competitors are more numerous because the marketplace has no barriers and new entrants have access to a global market” (Bordonaba-Juste et al., 2012 p. 534).
Another negative impact concerns the fact that some web-based technologies such as e-business avail critical market information not only to customers but also to competitors, implying that retailers must employ strategies to ensure such information becomes a core competency rather than a disadvantage to the company (Barlow et al., 2004).
In discussing the last section of the paper, which concerns the critical technologies found in the retail industry, it can be argued that quick response technologies such as electronic data interchange (EDI), bar-coding, and point-of-sale (POS) data capture act to improve inventory and replenishment rates, optimize the flow of information and merchandise between channel partners to optimize customer value and satisfaction, and improve turn of goods (Ko & Kincade, 1997).
It is important to note the POS software solutions presently utilized in the retailing sector comprise “ Retail Pro, Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS), and Keystroke POS, while examples of leading POS hardware systems are HP’s rp5800 Point of Sale solution, IBM’s SurePOS 500 system, and NCR’s RealPOS 25 system” (Delgado, 2010 p. 11).
Other technologies currently used in the retail sector include smart phones, iPods, iPads, tablets, Quick Response (QR) codes, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Individually and collectively, these technologies are known to enhance mobility, efficiency and customer satisfaction, while also providing valuable product information and facilitating the capacity for the retailer to know how much inventory of any particular product they have, right down to size, quantity and color (Barlow et al., 2004; Delgado, 2010).
Overall, it can be concluded that the adoption of emerging technologies is the right way to go for retailers in their attempt to revolutionalize the sector in not only achieving profitability and competitive advantage for the businesses, but also in enhancing customers’ value, satisfaction and ability to research any product offering and making purchases wherever and whenever they wish.
References
Barlow, A.K.J., Siddiqui, N.Q., & Mannion, M. (2004). Developments in information and communication technologies for retail marketing channels. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 32(3), 157-163.
Bordonaba-Juste, V., Lucia-Palacios, L., & Polo-Redondo, Y. (2012). Antecedents and consequences of e-business adoption for European retailers. Internet Research, 22(5), 532-550.
Delgado, F.J. (2012). New retail technologies. Sporting Goods Business, 45(9), 10-13.
Fiorito, S.S., Gable, M., & Conseur, A. (2010). Technology: Advancing retail buyer performance in the 21st century. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38(11/12), 879-893.
Ko, E., & Kincade, D.H. (1997). The impact of quick response technologies on retail store attributes. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 25(2), 90-98.
Puleri, J. (2011). The future of technology in retail. Chain Store Age, 87(7), 22-22.