Evaluating Food Retailing Efficiency : The Role of Information Technology

Information and internet-based technologies have fostered new supply chain initiatives in food retailing but little research has evaluated efficiency impacts. A distance function based on three key performance measures for food retailers is used to evaluate efficiency. Store level measures are incorporated to investigate the effects of store format, membership in a self-distributing chain, unionization, and the adoption of a variety of new information technologies. The analysis of supply chain technologies groups information technologies into three general categories including data sharing technologies, decision sharing technologies, and technologies that support product assortment, pricing, and merchandising decisions