Wal-Mart and data collection
A frightening look at the data collection that Wal-Mart is doing, where it’s going, and how it’s taken control of the retail channel.
A particularly startling excerpt:
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Eventually, some experts say, Wal-Mart will use its technology to institute what is called scan-based trading, in which manufacturers own each product until it is sold.
"Wal-Mart will never take those products onto its books," said Bruce Hudson, a retail analyst at the Meta Group, an information technology consulting firm in Stamford, Conn. "If you think of the impact of shedding $50 billion of inventory, that is huge."
The impact will probably be felt by suppliers, he added, but none are likely to complain.
"You can see the pattern of Wal-Mart’s mandates, and as Wal-Mart grows in power, it is getting more dictatorial," he said. "The suppliers shake their heads and say, ‘I don’t want to go this way, but they are so big.’ Wal-Mart lives in a world of supply and command, instead of a world of supply and demand."
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Is it okay for one retailer to get into a position where it controls a large majority of retail sales, then ask its suppliers to accept all of the risk for not selling things quickly enough?
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/business/yourmoney/14wal.html
