Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 87

what a drug store is, this program
would not have been as effective.
“Without discrediting the pharmacy credibility of their stores, they
focused on what the rest of the store
was all about by building out their
product assortment and the quality
and the positioning of their product
assortment—not just expanding the
typical pharmacy front-of-house products, but building out the beauty care
side of the business, which allowed
them to leverage their loyalty program
into a whole new purchasing level.”
More recently, Shoppers has continued this evolution by expanding into
food products—establishing themselves
as a convenience store contender.
Today, with more than 1,250 Associate-owned drug stores and annual
sales in excess of $10 billion, Shoppers Drug Mart is the leader in Canada’s retail drug store marketplace; it
is also the No.1 provider of pharmacy
products and services.

1970s
Barcode technology is introduced

When first introduced in the mid
1970s, barcode technology changed
the retail game. It touched all facets of
the business: from the checkout where
it increased point-of-sale speed and efficiency to the back-of-house where it
simplified supply chain and inventory
management. Ordering products and
controlling inventory was easier to
monitor. This innovation also gave retailers a sophisticated tool that helped
them expand and grow their operations faster—leading to the suburbanization and growth of chain stores.
“The introduction of the barcode
was a catalytic event,” Evans explains.
“It allowed retailers to become much
more sophisticated businesses and allowed them to expand rapidly.
“The whole inventory management side of the business was much
more problematic and complex when
you didn’t have something like a barcode to track inventory, sales, etc.”
Barcode technology also indirectly

led to the suburbanization of retail.
“This rapid expansion from the cities to the suburbs and the opening
of more shopping malls was facilitated by the fact that there was now a
technology that let those companies
manage inventory at a distance in an
effective way,” Evans adds.
1974: The association plays
a pivotal role in UPC Code
standardization and bilingual packaging regulations,
easing compliance requirements for retailers across
the country.
1976: Retail Council of Canada formally constitutes Le
Conseil Québécois du Commerce de Détail (CQCD) to
better represent retailers
operating in the province of
Quebec.
Jackman’s Paul Clark says barcodes enhanced customers’ in-store
experiences mainly due to faster
checkout times. “By improving customer satisfaction with the shopping
experience, barcodes also increased
the basket size since speed at the
check-out meant more time to browse
and buy,” he says. “The technology
also reduced training costs as the
scan did the memory work. Tracking
sales became easier and provided
valuable data for inventory management and assortment planning.”
As barcode technology became
more sophisticated in the 1980s,
it also allowed retailers to start
sourcing product globally, rather
than just domestically.
The future of technology is now

Technology is one of the most dynamic areas of a retailer’s business.
With the introduction of QR Codes
and RFID tags, along with new payment systems, the advancements are
never-ending.
“This is one of the biggest opportunities, but also one of the biggest
challenges for retailers,” Evans explains. “How do you stay abreast of

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Canadian Retailer - Store 2013

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