Towards an Integrated Information System for Retail Management

Retail management recognise the competitive edge that can be provided by actionable information. In moving towards an integrated retail management information system, it is recognised that a general driving force behind investments in information technology (IT) is the need for more detailed information about customers. Marketing (and distribution and service) can apply IT to increase their efficiency, and, more importantly, to promote their effectiveness in the increasingly competitive environment. It is argued that a management information-system should be viewed as ‘emancipatory’, permitting new decisionmaking processes, and that data from recent developments such as charge cards and electronic point of sales systems offer new opportunities. Attention focuses initially on the marketing function requirements for information about the local demand for goods and services and about the competitive position. It is suggested that real progress, driven by this external marketing perspective, will only occur through development of an integrated information-system (and that the necessary integration will require the framework of knowledge-based management-systems, rather than conventional data-based management-systems).