I've really been getting into exploring the details of the technology we use in our company. I think we all pretty much have email, possibly a kronos program for our inventories. We have a great database program we use for price books, a meat wrapper's PLU (code) book, sales, gross, inventory and receiving, and pretty much else anything you can think of. It's really nice and about damn time I can use one program to do so much so simply. It's so nice to get immediate answers when one of my crew asks for the price of something or the PLU of a new product. When the store director demands numbers on the fly, I can pull them up instantly.

Heck, even my cell phone has become an asset. Today a young lady asked me how to make Korean style short ribs, as she had short ribs in her cart. I didn't know, nor did anyone else. She said she would "Google it" when she got home. I figured heck, I can do that right now. I found recipes and chased her down in the store. We walked around a bit and found some ingredients. She told me it was for tomorrow's dinner and she would be back, so I emailed her the recipe. She told me I went above and beyond my duties. I felt it was part of my duties. I can't stand saying "I don't know" when someone's business is my business.

I feel that we market folks have always been a little behind in this department. But if there's anyway to make our lives easier and get more business, let's hear it! What kinds of technology do you use in your market?