Interview in CIO magazine with the CEO of 7-Eleven stores, James Keyes. We’re including it because it illustrates that a lot can be done to improve visibility and real-time informaiton flow with the technologies we have, such as bar codes and RFID, without the need in some cases for RFID.
Just a few years ago, 7-Eleven had virtually no in store systems or strong linkages to corporate systems. According to Keyes, “We didn't know what we sold by store. It was total guesswork. It would take us almost 20 days to collect sales data from the stores because it was all manual.” The chain relied on many of its vendors to stock stores because they had a much better grasp on what was moving.
Now, 7-Eleven uses bar code scanning, in-store inventory systems, and frequent communication of that sales data to drive merchandising and replenishment processes. As Keyes notes: “We can track every item literally every hour and use that point-of-sale data to drive revenue. In effect, we have come full circle in our ability to respond to the needs of the customer. Because now, we can use technology as a surrogate for being able to talk to every customer who walks in the door. We don't just have to rely on items we know will sell quickly, like 12-packs of beer; we can actually stock something that we're taking a chance on. And in short order, we'll understand how the customer responds.”
Granted, small C-stores may be easier to manage than large box retailers, but we still believe that potential improvements using existing technologies such as POS and bar codes to solve many of the problems being targeted by RFID.
Do you believe current technologies could solve many supply chain problems targeted by RFID? Are convenience stores different enough that 7-Eleven experience doesn’t apply elsewhere? Let us know your thoughts.