IT strategy in retailing: organizational change and future direction

IT is having a tremendous impact on most forms of business and the literature suggests large benefits from innovative applications. One major sector of the UK economy, retailing, is undergoing vast technological changes with the introduction of EPOS equipment and the associated developments in banking and financial services. However, the broader conceptual importance of IT in retailing is less apparent. In order to redress this imbalance, we present some field research from a range of retailing businesses. A stages of growth model is proposed which shows the interdependency between IT and business strategy, and depicts the critical role of organizational change in successful strategy implementation. The results indicate that although efficiency benefits are being obtained, most of the organizations are not at the leading edge of IT and jts use as a strategic weapon cannot yet be realized because of the lack of an IT infrastructure. Finally, some possible future directions are outlined with reference to leading companies from retail and other sectors.