IT and retail

I am currently on a business trip to Texas. (I can tell you what project but I would then need to silence you).

It amazes me that despite some of the advances of technology, there are some businesses here who still use the hardcopy route of doing things. One bank officer I met did not even have e-mail. (Hmm, I wonder how long she will last).

It also amazes me that American retailers continue to build retail outlets despite the lack (relatively low compared to Megamall) of high-density traffic. Anyway, here are some examples of retailers who have used technology to advance their businesses.

McDonald’s. Known as Micky D’s here, the burger giant has now launched self-service kiosks to both order and pay. The obvious objective is to increase the number of servers without increasing staff in a high-wage country. By the way, they are now pushing salads and chicken to reduce the sting of the recent documentary "Supersize Me."

Using touchscreens, the customer simply presses the pictures of the food or drinks they want to eat and a running total appears on the side frame. After the customer completes his/her choices, the choice of paying in credit card is given or he/she can pay cash to the cashier. Apparently, cash-taking kiosks are more expensive.

Upside: For a tourist like me, this is great as the accent of the order-taker is not that easy to understand (remember I am in Texas). Downside: For new users, it could take some time and the original objective of using the kiosk to reduce the normal line may not be achieved.

IHOP. IHOP is short for International House of Pancakes, basically a breakfast place but has now evolved into an all-day dining restaurant. IHOP has no relation to the local Pancake House which I believe offers a better fare and the best tacos in town. IHOP uses a sophisticated bar code system to track the customer’s bill. After having your meal, the bill is presented to the customer and the customer pays the cashier. The bill which has a bar code on it, is scanned and the cashier then brings up the record of the customer.

Upside: Cool. Downside: I don’t really see the need since the bill can just say the table number, and the cashier can pull up the record that way. I hope they have other uses for the bar code system.

E-Ticket. Flying domestically in the US is now done without tickets. This reduces the cost to the airline of printing those costly and hard-to-handle secure tickets. (Actually the airlines are now charging to print those tickets for those who are uncomfortable with the e-ticket system). The passenger just uses kiosks or check-in counters to print their boarding passes.

Upside: The passenger does not have to carry the ticket or risk losing it. He or she just has to remember the confirmation code or print the confirmation that one gets in the e-mail. Downside: For those buying tickets online, be careful, the penalties can be quite usurious.

My Two Cents: Using technology in business is a very cool prospect for tech lovers like me, but at the end of the day, it has to address a business reason other than being cool. It has to either enhance revenue or increase productivity.

Look at the return on the technology investment, don’t let your CIO (chief information officer) or CTO (chief technology officer) use the phrase "strategic implementation," which in layman’s terms means "I can’t prove the returns, so I will use buzzwords to get this project approved."

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Dickson Co is CFO (C is for Cheap) for Dfnn, Intelligent Wave Philippines and HatchAsia.com. For comments or suggestions, e-mail [email protected].