The results from a survey of top retailing executives regarding
current logistics practices and trends are described. The focus is on
customer service factors, the use of a supply chain management approach
in retailing channels, and the impact of information technology on
retail logistics today and in the future. Information technologies
discussed include electronic data interchange, point of sale and
barcoding. The article concludes that based on the importance that
retailers attach to customer service, supply chain management and
information technology, the 1990s will likely be an exciting and
challenging time in the management of the retail logistics function.
Develops and estimates efficiency and productivity measures in the US trucking and warehousing industry in the 48 contiguous states during the years 1994-2000. The model, estimated via data envelopment analysis, accounts for both desirable outputs and undesirable outputs produced by a given vector of inputs. The model establishes an efficient frontier of operation for each year studied and can be used to determine, on an annual basis, which of the 48 states operate on the frontier. The findings indicate that the trucking and warehousing industry does not operate efficiently in all 48 states during the period studied. If the industry were to operate on the frontier of the feasible output set by using inputs to produce outputs efficiently, it could eliminate three to four fatal traffic accidents per state per year, while simultaneously increasing industry income by between $38 to $47 million per state per year. In addition, finds that traditional techniques of estimating efficiency that ignore traffic fatalities bias estimates of efficiency and total factor productivity growth.
During the past 20 years, US retailing has gone through a period of unprecedented change as consumer demands and competition have intensified. This change is being further stimulated by the development of e‐commerce. Study of successful retailers indicates that a retailer’s ability to successfully carve out and defend a competitive position in the marketplace depends, to a great extent, on its ability to make investments in and utilize information. The study described in this paper examined the use of technology in retailing. The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying factors explaining why retailers adopt POS and EDI. The results indicate that retailers are adopting these technologies to achieve direct, indirect, and strategic benefits. These benefits take the form of improved inventory management, reductions in costs, and increased flexibility of response to customer demands.
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