Customer and Supplier Interactions
Technology is changing the nature of retailer-customer and retailer-supplier interactions.
If applied well, benefits accrue to all parties. If not, there are negative ramifications.
Here are several illustrations.
Retailers widely use point-of-sale scanning equipment. Why? By electronically
scanning products (rather than having cashiers “ring up” each product),
retailers can quickly complete transactions, amass sales data, give feedback to
suppliers, place and receive orders faster, reduce costs, and adjust inventory.
There is a downside to scanning: the error rate. This can upset consumers, especially
if they perceive scanning to be inaccurate. Yet, according to a Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) study, scanner errors in reading prices occurred only 3.4 percent
of the time; and although consumers believe that most errors result in
overcharges, the FTC found that overcharges and undercharges were equally
likely.19 One way to assure consumers is to display more information at the point
of purchase.