Published: April 15, 2008 10:03 am      

From inventory to checkout, businesses sold on computers

Technology is a tool that can cut an easier path for businesses and their customers to follow.

At Windber Builders Supply, 2804 Graham Ave., owner Scott Gilbert merely presses some keys on his computer to learn which items his customers find most useful for spring spruce-ups of their lawns and houses.

The computer tells him which items were popular last year so he can stock up.

Software is constantly being developed to help companies work more efficiently for their customers, Gilbert said.

In years gone by, several employees walked the aisles to determine what was sold out and then ordered the products.

Now, high-powered point-of-sale computers monitor Gilbert’s inventory of 20,000 items and automatically reorder items.

Improved technology also has been a boon for the music business, Gilbert said.

At his 28th Street Guitar, located upstairs in the same building, technology is changing the way musicians go about their craft.

Guitarists formerly needed several expensive amplifiers to get the sound needed for a variety of music, Gilbert said. Now, one inexpensive amplifier will do the same job.

At East Hills Family Pharmacy, 1111 Scalp Ave., in Richland Township, owner Bob Amity uses a blend of old and new technologies to serve customers.

He uses a computer to transmit prescription claims to the customers’ insurance carriers.

That’s a necessity these days, he said, because insurers have the information necessary to determine the amount of the co-pay.

Coming next will be e-prescriptions, which enable doctors to transmit prescriptions to the pharmacy via e-mail.

“I think it will be a good method,” Amity said.

But technology isn’t always the best approach, he said. Customers often ask him when he is getting an automated telephone system such as those utilized by chain stores.

Amity said he will stay with his old-fashioned system that provides personal service when someone calls. There is nothing better than having a “live” person answer the phone, he said.

John Butler, manager of Market Basket, 1407 Dwight Drive in Richland Township, said it’s hard to predict which technology will be adopted in the supermarket industry in the next five years.

The industry is looking at a new way to scan items into cash registers to reduce the time customers spend at the checkout counter, he said. Shoppers would scan each item as they place it in their cart.

Butler is not enamored by self-checkout systems now in use and said advancements will be made in that technology.

Market Basket doesn’t utilize such a system, he said.

“I think customers like the personalized service of having a cashier and a bagger wait on them at the checkout line,” he said.

At Sheetz convenience stores, customers will find that tech-nological advancements will improve service, said Louie Sheetz, vice president of sales and marketing.

One such step forward will be coming within a year at the food station. Instead of customers punching in their food selection at a computer and then punching in each ingredient for that item, Sheetz said, they will be able to use a “Remember Me” card that will order their favorite food the way they like it with just one punch on the computer.

The system is in use at some stores in Ohio and will arrive in this area in about a year, he said.

Sheetz executives also are considering a system that would enable customers to pay for their food on the spot instead of going to the cash register.