FLEMING TO TRACK STORE PERFORMANCE BY CULLING POS DATA

LAURA REINA

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The New York division of Fleming Cos., Oklahoma City, is in the process of implementing software that will help it track store-level performance by compiling information from the point of sale.

The software will collect data by integrating with cashier-monitoring software already implemented in 15 Buffalo-area Jubilee Foods stores, said Jim Tedesco, director of loss prevention for the New York retail group here.

The program, which will be on-line by the end of June, will be implemented at division headquarters, and will collect information from stores via a corporate intranet.

"We can track the performance in all of our stores and find out exactly how these stores are doing," said Tedesco.

The cashier-monitoring software already at the stores tracks performance based on more than 20 different categories. Presently, the data is being used solely for cashier tracking and loss-prevention applications.

According to a source familiar with the situation, the POS information will allow Fleming to analyze variances between stores and identify stores drifting away from the norm. The software uses more than 600 different audit points to show how stores are performing.

The cashier-monitoring software, Shrink Trax, is from Trax Software, Centerville, Ohio. The data-collecting software, Host Trax, is from the same vendor.