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In the March/April issue we published an article by Colin Paterson of British Home Stores in which he examined the use of ratios in financial analysis and questioned to what degree these ratios are meaningful. His article has prompted this follow‐up by Ralph Towsey, who suggests that some of these ratios can have an important significance within the retail management function as operational control information.

The electronic cash register has arrived on the scene, and is starting to take over operations formerly performed mechanically. By treating it as an integral part of an information reporting system, it can collect detailed data about the sales it records, thus providing a speedy and accurate stock control system. This article describes various experiments being carried out in this area.

The phenomenal rise of mail order — armchair shopping — has been well documented. More recently, discount trading has made a marked impact on the retail scene in this country. Now we are seeing the emergence of a new form of retailing which is a combination of both — the catalogue showroom, which enables customers to make their initial selection in a catalogue, then visit the ‘showroom’ and buy the merchandise at a considerable discount. One of the few retail innovations to emerge from the United States in recent years, this new form of trading has undergone certain adaptations in its passage across the Atlantic. First we examine the principles of the system, and then take a look at Richard Tompkins' Argos showrooms, recently launched in a highly professional blaze of publicity.

Since the opening of the Caerphilly Carrefour in September 1972, a second has opened at Telford and planning permission has been sought for many more. Other companies have opened hypermarkets and superstores: Asda, Scan, Tesco and even Sainsbury. More than a year after the first opening several surveys and studies have been undertaken: analysing customer reaction and monitoring the effects on other traders in the areas. Here we report on just some of them.