Technology Is Reshaping Retail-Vendor Relationships

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Technology has redefined the relationship between retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, and the industry is at a crossroads where younger and older members of the workforce are often not connecting with each other because of their different technology skill sets, according to a panel at the Western Michigan University Food Marketing Conference here yesterday. Marv Imus, owner of the Paw Paw Shopping Center in Paw Paw, Mich., said that although his company receives a lot of its sales and promotional information online through its supplier, Spartan Stores, Grand Rapids, Mich., some of the people who need that information, such as produce and deli directors, are not as technologically savvy as they need to be. “We found we had to do a lot of hand-holding,” he said. Alan Hartline, vice president at Spartan, said the company has “really leveraged online and e-commerce.” It has almost 4,000 planograms online that its retail customers can download. “It‘s been a tremendous vehicle for us, but it‘s been a learning curve as we try to get people to do things electronically and move away from paper.” -- Mark Hamstra