Because successful retailing starts with the possession and proper use of business information, many retailers have developed and implemented some form of a retailing information systems (RIS). An RIS is an interacting organisation of people, machines, and methods designed to produce a regular, continuous, and orderly flow of information necessary for the retailer’s problem-solving and decision making activities. The RIS is a planned, sequential flow of information tailored to the needs of a particular retail operation. The reason for the careful gathering and processing of information is so that the retailer will have sufficient information on hand to control and coordinate all of its operations adequately. The successful retailers of the 1990s and beyond will be those that possess and effectively use the best information systems.