In e-business, the value of every transaction increases

WHEN I WAS A BOY in the MID-west 50 years ago, retail automation was exemplified by polished copper containers and an elegant system of vacuum tubes into which any salesperson could insert a copper container from anywhere on the sales floor. the copper containers traveled quickly to the accounting department upstairs, to be returned just as quickly with the correct change, and the sales receipt. I particularly remember the customer gossip when the new system was installed as everyone in our neighborhood heralded “a new age in retail sales.”. © 2005, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.