To Bill as well...
REI Revs Kiosks: Kent, Wash.-based Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) has installed between two and seven Internet kiosks, linked to its Web site www.rei.com, in each of 51 stores. The kiosks in four stores have been upgraded with increased processing speed, a broader product assortment,and include Internet access for cashiers and additional product search abilities via POS terminals. Kiosks in the remaining stores will be improved early next year. A small REI store, which was among the first to be upgraded,features more merchandise through its kiosk than is available in the co.'s Seattle flagship store. The co. claims that revenues generated from Internet sales rank among the sales generated by its top 10 stores. (WWD 12/30/98 p8)
I'd love to see other articles and comments...as a retailer, I find the "one or the other" arguement flawed. Internet methods are easily applied to traditional land based retailers for a host (why I like Informix) of applications - HR, training, product information, frequent shopper, expanded inventory/sales(why I like CPU), report distribution, item movement, replenishment, conferencing, etc. In a distributed environment, there are a ton of efficiences here.
Walmart has over 10,000 Informix licenses to help them operate their store operations - distribution to localized/central facilities will be cheaper than one to one to the home (why I like COST); please don't assume that some (many?) land based guys haven't figured this out!!
Good luck and thanks for your posts!
|
