ALBRECHT IS ROLLING OUT UPDATED POS SYSTEMS

JONNA CRISPENS

AKRON, Ohio -- Fred W. Albrecht Co. here is installing new front-end point-of-sale systems in all 36 of its Acme, Acme SuperCenter and Y-Mart stores.

The new systems will help boost data communications speed and efficiency and enable the chain to take much greater advantage of electronic marketing programs, said Sue Harman, Albrecht's director of retail technology.

About 15 Acme and Acme SuperCenter stores have already been outfitted with the systems, with remaining supermarket locations scheduled to be on line by mid-June, Harman said. The systems, ranging from electronic cash registers and in-store controllers to headquarters-based computers and customized software, carry a price tag of about $3 million. The hardware and software components are expected to be fully operational by the end of the year, Harman said.

Installing the new systems was termed a "competitive necessity" by Dave Stanek, the chain's vice president of management information systems.

It is especially crucial for taking the necessary strategic steps toward managing product pricing, monitoring inventory, gathering customer data for marketing purposes and the like, he said.

"Making the investment was simply no longer an option," Harman added. "The industry is definitely moving in that direction and we had to take this step to remain competitive."

The systems will help provide the chain with enhanced scanning ability and, ultimately, the transmission of data in a speedier and more accurate fashion, which is critical for competing successfully in today's market environment, Harman said.

"It will save a tremendous amount of time by helping create a paperless system in which information doesn't have to be

passed from person to person, and it will help reduce the possibility of human error," she said.

The systems will also allow store-level inventory levels to be constantly monitored and updated, thus making it possible to implement an expanded direct-store-delivery program, Harman said.

Another key benefit of installing the new systems will be an enhanced ability to develop and take advantage of electronic marketing programs, including card-based frequent-shopper programs, she said.

Such card-based scanner-driven programs will allow the chain to gather information for identifying key market segments and shopping patterns. That information could then be used to target specific consumer groups via telemarketing campaigns, direct mailings and special coupons, Harman said.

"It will tell us what departments are being shopped, and who's shopping them," said Sue Guthier, manager of special promotions and public relations.

"For example, if we have a customer who shops every department except seafood, we can pick up the phone, call her and find out why she's not shopping the seafood department -- which could lead to positive changes."

The systems could also identify, for example, customers who usually purchase one brand of soda, and then automatically send them vendor-supplied coupons for a free bottle of a competing brand's soda on their next store visit, Stanek added.

The systems will also allow the company to target specific demographic consumer groups. "We can identify customers with babies and give their addresses to our diaper suppliers for coupon mailings," said Guthier. "By the same token, if we find that 18- to 25-year-olds aren't shopping with us, we can target them."

According to Stanek, the company expects to recoup the system's cost within 12 to 18 months. He estimates annual savings of $500,000 in maintenance, $750,000 in labeling, and $400,000 in labor costs associated with the labeling and weighing of produce.