A recent article in the Harvard Business Review stated that every decade there are one or two innovations that change the game and profoundly influence the entire industry. "The 1980s were the Walmart decade, with its new use of IT, supply chain innovation, and pricing. The Gap reinvented the specialty store in the 1990s with a narrow assortment of private-label goods and a novel presentation and store experience. It's the model that every specialty store has followed since."

Moving forward, the future of retailing will be a continued expansion of small, inexpensive micro-stores and automated retailing centers. These systems have been proven to deliver more sales per square foot than their traditional retail counterparts, and require virtually no staffing or overhead.

Morgan Research Group recently started coverage of the Retailing Industry, and believes that the growth is in the smaller, to mid-size companies that are leading the automated evolution. "With annual revenues of about $405 billion, Wal-Mart probably won't be significantly growing that number anytime soon. However, companies that provide new style self-service retailing solutions like AVT and Zoom Systems are positioned to continue to grow," the report stated. "We especially like AVT because of their strong balance sheet, forthright management team, diversified customer base, and market-beating potential over the next three to five years," the report stated.

"Soon, these automated stores will be everywhere: from airports and college campuses, to hospitals, office buildings, and even inside traditional retail stores - where they are used to attract attention and secure valuable merchandise."

AVT has a new division that is focused on turnkey automated micro-stores, which includes stocking the system, shipping logistics, and securing locations. All the retailer or brand needs to do is start the process - and AVT handles the rest.