Industry // Retail
Senior IT leaders working as sales clerks, internal auditors, and merchandise buyers? That's how strongly the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, believes that its technology staff must understand its business operations. Merchants first, technologists second.
"I think Wal-Mart views technology in a different light than most retailers," says Peter Abell, retail research director at AMR Research. "It's not only an integral part of the company, but it's where the leaders of the company can come from."
Wal-Mart has established its leadership in the use of online technology to lower supply-chain costs, which has helped drive growth. It uses an online tool called Retail Link to securely provide information to its vast network of suppliers and partners.
"Retail Link has become ingrained in the day-to-day business and evolved to help keep suppliers and associates informed of changing trends, detailed sales data, and more," says Linda Dillman, Wal-Mart's CIO. "From predefined management reporting to fully customizable inquiries, Retail Link provides rapid access to near real-time information."
Coupled with electronic data interchange (EDI) Retail Link provides continuous and accurate data exchange. "Because this process eliminates many manual processes, suppliers and Wal-Mart are able to help reduce overall costs, providing customers with additional savings," Dillman says.
iQ Magazine, November/December 2002
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