Information technology may rescue retailers who are having to
face up to the first serious economic slowdown in nearly 20 years.
But with the looming recession affecting retailers in different
ways, each sector is using IT differently.
It was clear at last week's
Retail Solutions
conference that most bigger and branded retailers have their
operational basic IT infrastructure in place. Now they are looking
to IT to underpin innovations that could give them an advantage,
even if only briefly, in what is fast becoming a hyper-competitive
space.
High end fashion retailers such as
Harvey Nichols aim to
use IT to get closer to their customers and to understand better
what motivates their buying behaviour.
Grocery retailers such as
Tesco want to use IT to help
them cut sky-rocketing fuel bills and other energy costs.
Mass merchandisers such as
Argos are
looking to optimize their supply chains to make sure that the right
goods are on the shelf when the customer calls.
Mike Yowerth, Tesco's group technology and architecture
director, says along with other parts of the business IT is under
pressure to contribute to the halving of Tesco's carbon footprint.
At best it could save perhaps 1% through virtualisation and
switching off kit at night.
He estimates IT is responsible for about 4% of the group's
carbon footprint. But the real contribution IT could make, he says,
is to enable the other 96% of the business.
He is working on a scheme to automate building management and
climate control across all Tesco stores. And he is deploying
satellite telemetry to monitor the behaviour of drivers in delivery
vehicles. The technology allows Tesco to reschedule routes to avoid
traffic jams and delivery hold-ups. That is already paying
dividends in fuel savings.
"Even if the IT footprint grew to 10% but the group's overall
carbon footprint dropped 70%, I would count that a success," he
says.
Getting to know customers' preferences in greater depth is
increasingly important for all retailers. Martin Schofield, IT and
logistics director at Harvey Nichols, says he plans to capture more
customer detail at the point of sale and collate it with the
customer's purchase history. Stores will use the information to
target the customer through advertising at the point of sale and in
marketing promotions shots. Harvey Nichols will monitor which
promotions the customer responds to, and so refine its offers.