Red pumps. Silver slingbacks. Bronze flats. Black suede boots. Size 7 1/2, please.
Without leaving the customer’s side, Macy’s sales associate Felicia Dixon uses a small, handheld electronic device that essentially summons the shoes in the right style, color and size, from the stockroom. It is not quite magic: A clerk in the backroom receives the request electronically and brings out the merchandise.
The shopper does not have to hunt around for a clerk each time she wants to try on a different style or needs a different size. Better service means happier customers, and that could lead to more sales.
At least that is the hope, from the retailer’s perspective.
Stores spend $34.5 billion a year on all kinds of technology, from the cables and routers behind-the-scene to in-store devices such as price checkers, self-service checkout stations and electronic kiosks for customers, says the National Retail Federation.
With older equipment needing to be replaced, spending for high-tech upgrades is expected to increase, the federation says.
Some workers might view technology such as self-checkouts threatening their job. Other devices — electronic price checkers or Macy’s shoe locator — might make their jobs easier.
Still, the number of jobs in some segments of the retail industry is diminishing, and economists believe that technology has played a prominent role.
An Associated Press analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment data found that department stores have slashed 247,100 jobs since June 2001, when employment in that sector peaked. The number of jobs at food and beverage stores has fallen by 118,800 since April 2000.
Technology that allows companies to produce more goods or provide service to their customers with fewer workers or with their current staff is a factor in some job losses, economists say. A second is consolidation when a company buys out a rival or merges with a competitor.
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