Information Technology and the Independent Retail Business
研究了英国独立零售商采用信息技术（如电子销售点终端、店内计算机和便携式数据采集设备）的现状，发现这些技术即使在最小零售店也能应用，并分析了采用率与业务类型、店铺规模的关系。
DR. ALAN TREADGOLD is a research associate in the Oxford Institute of Retail Management at Templeton College, England. The successful application of instore information technology systems has been identified as a source of substantial competitive advantage for retail businesses. Multiple retail businesses, in the United Kingdom as elsewhere, are demonstrably committed to heavy investment programmes in data collection, transmission and manipulation systems. There has, however, prevailed an assumption that the application of l.T. systems is confined to large multiple retailers. In consequence little is known of the activities of the smaller independent retailer. This paper addresses this knowledge gap. Three l.T. devices, namely EPOS (electronic point of sale) terminals, in-store computers, and portable data capture units (PCDUs), are identified as especially well-suited for application in even the smallest retail outlets. An attempt is made, through the presentation of the results of survey work. to identify the overall level of I.T. device adoption, adoption by principal trading activity and size of outlet, and the success of l.T. applications in this sector of the retail trades.