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Longs Drug Stores Corp. has switched from a computer system that used proprietary software to a client-server model that enables the drugstore chain to use commercial software. Before the change, Longs' headquarters did not keep track of companywide sales and 70% of the chain's systems developers worked only on maintaining the company's applications. Longs is switching to a system that will allow a greater flow of data between management, pharmacists and outside parties., Nobody could accuse Longs Drug Stores of having a short-sighted information systems plan. Faced with a changing customer mix and eroding margins on prescription drugs, the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based retailer [...]

The race to cyberspace is just beginning. Some see it as a sprint, others a marathon. The best-conditioned and mentally prepared chains will win as the less fit take a [...]

An ironic kink in the global supply chain is that cash flow, or lack thereof, represents one of the most onerous hidden costs. The transaction of finances has been an [...]

Two retailers, traveling different paths to achieve CPFR (collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment), arrive at the same conclusion: Technology is not the most critical factor of CPFR success. Jeff Wood, [...]

StaffWorks, an automated workforce-management software, from Campbell Software, has improved sales per man-hour, improved customer service including scheduling employees accordingly to customer demand at Genovese Drugs. At the chain drugstore, StaffWorks also places employees in jobs that they have the required skills to perform. Melville, N.Y.-based Genovese has introduced the automated labor scheduler in 130 of its stores in the metropolitan New York area and has cut labor costs tremendously., Short of time and shorter on patience, New Yorkers don't like to wait in line. So when Genovese Drugs automated labor scheduling at its 130 stores blanketing the New York [...]

Rite Aid Corp. is seeking to lower costs by equipping its drugstores with 25,000 point-of-sale (POS) terminals that are capable of handling debit cards, electronic benefits transfer systems and other modes of electronic payment. The chain tested 10 POS terminals before choosing the Everest system from VeriFone Inc. Rite Aid sought input from customers during the testing, and is touting the POS terminals as a marketing advantage, says director of store technology Bob Kostosky.

Kerr Drug Stores is far ahead of other privately owned regional drug store chains when it comes to the use of technology in general and point-of-sale systems as a whole. Kerr official Jeffrey N. Garrett notes that up to 1992, the company was not using scanning and employed electronic cash registers with no capabilities to provide point-of-sale data. After deciding that Kerr needed to raise its technological standards, it settled on the TotalStore system from Post Software International., In purchasing Kerr Drug Stores, Thrift Drug has acquired a privately owned regional drug store chain whose level of technology is high, compared to most other privately owned regional drug [...]

It would have been easy for the Walgreens' new outpost in the heart of New York City's Times Square to go unnoticed amid all the hustle and bustle. Instead, the [...]

London-based Superdrug is currently three years into its five-year plan to re-establish its brand as a fashion-focused health and beauty retailer. Part of that plan is focusing on a consumer-centric [...]

Retail's multichannel explosion has done more than send e-commerce and catalog numbers skyrocketing. It has created an army of store-level employees ill-prepared to provide the heightened levels of service necessary [...]

Canada's London Drugs will optimize its workforce management using a solution from Chelmsford, Mass.-based Kronos [...]

The U.K.'s Boots Co. has implemented the ShrinkTrax shrink-prevention solution from Trax Retail Solutions, Scottsdale, [...]

Longs Drug is testing ATM-styled Script Center machines in stores that provide automated prescription [...]

Ohio-regional Discount Drug Mart is rolling out an automated drug-dispensing robot from Durham, N.C.-based Parata Systems following a successful pilot of the [...]

Puerto Rico's largest pharmacy chain, Farmacias El Areal has rolled out the Retail.net solution from Salt Lake City-based Tomax [...]

Happy Harry's is installing a robotic dispensing system in select locations to reduce the workload for pharmacists and allow them to spend more time counseling [...]

Rite Aid is rolling out a fingerprint-authentication system to its 3,400 stores nationwide. The chain is using Digital Persona's fingerprint-scanning system to allow pharmacists access to prescription information. The biometric [...]

In a cost-cutting initiative, Shoppers Drug Mart is rolling out a labor-scheduling system that will allow it to redistribute its labor based on two-year historical sales [...]

Longs Drug Stores has deployed an integration platform from Fairfax, Va.-based webMethods. The platform will centralize critical business data from Longs' 400-plus [...]

The Exxon-Mobil Speedpass gained momentum in recent months with high-profile tests beyond the gas and convenience-store arena. But the keychain device suffered a setback recently when Walgreen pulled the plug [...]

CVS Corp. opted for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Vertical Networks' InstantOffice system to standardize its voice and data communications. The drug chain signed a purchase contract and ordered an initial 2,000 systems. [...]

No lesson has been harder learned in retail than the rewards and risks of technology. As many retailers can attest, the prospect of Web-site riches is overstated, and the costs [...]

Walgreen Co. is planning a chain-wide rollout of demand-forecasting software from Retek Inc., [...]