Impact of information technology on inventory management in supermarkets in Nairobi city county

Abstract

Information technology in inventory management acts as a tool for enhancing efficiency and cost reduction. Some supermarkets that have implemented IT in inventory management have succeeded while others have failed. The study sought to determine the impact of information technology on inventory management in supermarkets in Nairobi. The objectives of the study were: to establish the extent of usage of IT systems in inventory management in supermarkets in Nairobi and to determine the impact of IT used on inventory management performance in the supermarkets in Nairobi. The study used a descriptive research design. The study had a response rate of 70%. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The study concludes that vendor managed inventory systems and warehouse management systems were implemented to a greater extent by supermarkets in Nairobi. Supermarkets should invest more in modern technologies for example information communication technology in order to achieve integration, minimize communication costs, enhance efficiency and increase sharing of information which will eventually lead to improved performance. The regression results reviewed that IT adoption in inventory management was positively related to performance of supermarkets in Nairobi. The study therefore recommends that the supermarkets in Kenya should invest in modern technologies in order to integrate their supply chain management systems. This would minimize communication costs and increase sharing of information leading to improved efficiency and performance of supermarkets in Kenya. The findings of a survey based on other sources of information and the use of absolute data could provide additional findings. The researcher faced significant time and cost constraints which limited the scope of the study. The study limited itself to supermarkets that are concentrated within Nairobi County; it would have been more useful if the researcher collected data in another town outside Nairobi County in order to have some comparative findings and to draw conclusive results. Future researchers might consider investigating the impact of IT used on inventory management performance in large supermarkets in Kenya like Nakumatt, Naivas, Tuskys, Uchumi and Ukwala. This is because their level of adoption and implementation of information technology is relatively high as compared to other categories of supermarkets in Nairobi. The findings obtained in this study might be used to make a comparison with all the supermarkets in Kenya.