Retailers have already taken their own information systems pretty far thanks to networked computers and universal product codes; what remains is to make information available to customers. Is it really such a leap to imagine pointing a handheld device at a bar code or other symbol on a shelf or product and getting a host of information about it? At the very least, you ought to be able to find out whether there are more in stock if the shelf is empty, or which other stores in the chain have them.
But if you're looking at hot-water heaters in Home Depot, why can't you also find out whether the given unit is big enough for your needs, or how much it might cost for a professional to install? Why can't you put an esoteric question to the company's product-support staff? While you're at it, of course, the store might offer you a discount coupon for an insulating blanket or some copper pipe.
Underhill, president of New York-based Envirosell, notes that something like this is already happening in Europe, where, thanks to the Continent's generally more advanced mobile phone systems, some stores make product reviews and the like available via Web-enabled cell phone. Some day, he says, you might be able to confer with an expert on hot-water heaters at the store's headquarters via videoconference.
Some of the technology that retailers are playing with today is less than thrilling. Raymond Burke, the personable business professor who runs the University of Indiana's Customer Interface Lab, notes that retailers are trying to revive the kiosks that have been around for years, this time by making them Web-enabled. One problem, of course, is that "if it works well, you can't get near it." Retailers are also experimenting with handheld shopping devices - Palm-like machines they give you when you walk in - but these have yet to prove their efficacy. "Bluetooth is the great hope here," Burke says. The devices also are great for self-checkout.
Major department stores have already had success with a twist on traditional bridal registration by letting soon-to-be-marrieds roam through their stores with bar-code readers. They can use them to generate a database of desired presents that well-wishers can pick out and pay for.
To prepare for the future, Burke says, retailers are trying to create a standard method of capturing product information, sort of like the standardized nutritional labels on food, that would permit a unified product database accessible online, in stores and so on. The industry has even formed an Association for Retail Technology Standards. One incentive is evidence that better information really does matter. "The more product information you have, the less price sensitive you are," Burke observes, adding that once some of these technological capabilities are in place - and well integrated with the Web - "we'll have to give e-commerce applications a second chance."
By that time maybe you - or your clothes dryer - will be able to understand how to launder the things you buy.
Daniel Akst writes frequently about technology and business. His novel The Webster Chronicle will be published in October.
