Point of sale (POS) data has long been the domain of the retailer that collects it. It hasn’t always available – in detail, anyway – to manufacturers and suppliers that could use the data for such things as demand planning, improving supply chains to avoid stock outs and to better understand and act on buying habits so they can more accurately allocate advertising dollars. Of course, all those benefits would in turn benefit the retailers, which could improve planning and forecasting, reduce (or eliminate) stock outs, and even have leverage to enact and enforce service level agreements with suppliers.

Sometimes "The Payoff" writes about you. Sometimes it's about your customers. Installments like "Qthru Aims for a Different Self Check-Out" obviously apply to the many readers working in retail organizations: a better way to get shoppers through check-out certainly matters to you. Why waste space, though, on currency exchange in Malta or ordering pencils in Pretoria?

I don't know, and I don't care.

Not exactly, but almost. A couple of weeks ago, reader Mike reacted to "Google Wallet: High Risk, High Reward" with sensible questions:

Those of us who have been around ecommerce for a few years can probably remember hearing or reading about the ‘next big thing’. Whether that next big thing was handwriting recognition software, the ‘netbook’, server virtualization, or internet TV, it’s been a little hit or miss. That’s to be expected; things move quickly in this hyperconnected world, and technology never stands still.