Supermarkets

Technology and the Internet is not only changing the front face of supermarkets, but also the entire logistics of the industry.  For example, in a poll carried out by Lebhar-Friedman in December 2000, 96% of the supermarkets polled claimed they expect to make greater use of technology to manage their inventories within the next few years.  The greatest change is expected to come in the area of using the Internet to link with suppliers.  This finding also highlights the increasing adoption of technology by supermarkets; the industry is changing.  The research revealed that one of the primary factors fuelling this change is competition, which is increasing on all fronts, including a rise in speciality stores, and on-line grocers.  One expected change due to the increasing use of technology is the choice of metrics used to calculate inventory movement.