Decision support systems implementation in the UK retail organisations: A geographical information systems perspective

Geographical information systems (GIS) are becoming more prevalent in both day-to-day and strategic decision-making by retailers. Given the array of internal and external databases they use and integrate, and the human and organisational developmnent needed, a most apposite description of how a GIS may be introduced for retailing decision-making is ‘system implementation’. There is little published work on GIS implementation as applied to retailing. Retailers wishing to understand the critical success factors of implementation cannot assume that studies from other industries can provide simple generalisations. This article presents exploratory case studies developed using a grounded theory approach, reflecting GIS implementation experiences of British retailers. Three major retailers who have already developed and utilised their GIS to varying degrees are used in a case study.