ICT in Retail

Introduction


Hi, I'm Luca and I am a student in year 10 at St. Francis Xavier's College in Woolton, Liverpool. One of the subjects I am currently studying at school is ICT, and I am going to share my knowledge and understanding of this subject with everyone in a series of blogs. In this particular blog, I will be discussing how ICT has had an impact in the retail industry over time. I hope that you enjoy this blog, and come away learning something new which you can hopefully pass on to someone else.


Tills

Over time, ICT has introduced a lot of devices into the retail industry. One of these devices is the till. The till is what is used to pay for the products which you want to buy in the shop. It works by scanning the barcode which most products have, and then both the product and its cost appears on the monitor. If the products which you are purchasing do not have a barcode on them (which are things such as fruit) then the till will weigh the product, and it will automatically detect which product it is weighing, and the cost of it.

The monitors on tills have became a lot more advanced over the years too, with many nowadays having touch screen and colour capabilities, where as in the past they never.

The ways in which you can pay for your items on a till are by credit/debit card, by coins/notes or by something which some shops have called a "clubcard". If you want to pay by debit/credit card, the till uses a "chip and pin" system. The chip and pin system basically allows the till to communicate with the bank from the shop which the customer is purchasing something from. If you want to use coins or notes to pay for something, the money will be inserted into the till, and then the change will be taken out and given to the customer.

Self service checkouts have been introduced over the years as well. These basically allow the customer to go scan/weigh and pay for their products by themselves, which is an advantage to the customer if they only have a few items.


Security

Security is another thing in ICT which has became a lot more advanced in retail over the years. In the past, it would be easy for people to just pick up an item and walk out of the shop without paying for it. Nowadays, it isn't easy at all, because of the introductions to shops such as security cameras and more staff security.

An example of security in retail is the security cameras located in many different areas in shops. They basically watch over different areas in the shop to see whether anyone tries to steal any items or to see whether there is any other trouble going on.

There are also security sensors which are located by the shop doors. They are able to detect whether anyone has stolen something because they are magnetic. The magnetic force which they are provided with is able to sense, and then scan the barcode on a product to see whether it has been payed for.

However, the bad thing about these are the fact that they cannot detect typical groceries such as loose fruit or vegetables. This means that any random person could just walk into a shop, put something like an apple into his pocket, and walk out with it without even paying.


Conclusion


In conclusion, ICT has had a major impact in the retail industry. The till - the ordinary piece of equipment which is required to run a shop, is a major example of how far retail has came because of ICT. It was once just an ordinary box with a button to open and close it, and with a draw to put the money in and take it out of. However, they now have very modernised monitors, they can weigh items, they allow you to pay by credit/debit card and more.


Furthermore, ICT has introduced, and also enhanced the security used in retail. Gadgets such as the security camera and the magnetic motion and barcode scanner have made it a lot harder for thieves to steal items which belong to a certain store.