7-Eleven stocks up on tech savvy

From CNet News:

Standing in front of a refrigerated case at the 7-Eleven store in Rockwall, Texas, on a Friday morning, store manager Sherry Neal considered a seemingly mundane, but in fact important, decision: how many chicken salad sandwiches to order for the next day.

To aid her decision, Neal held a new lightweight wireless tablet with a colorful screen chock-full of information. She noted that she had two sandwiches that were due to expire that day and six the next. Using the gadget’s built-in keyboard, she recorded the inventory information into an electronic form.

On the same screen, she saw that the National Weather Service was forecasting seasonably warm and fair weather for the next five days. Having observed customer behavior as an employee of 7-Eleven since 1979, Neal knew good weather was likely to mean good business over the upcoming weekend. Another part of the screen told her how many chicken salad sandwiches her store had sold on each of the last four Saturdays.

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