According to Berman and Evans (2017) what is the role of the web in retail?
- Reach geographically dispersed consumers, including foreign ones. It has opened up the market, enabled global retailing to be available to all
- Generate sales as the major source of revenue for an online retailer or as a complementary source of revenue for a store-based retailer.
- provide info to customers about store locations, usage information, answers to common questions etc
- Obtain customer feedback and reviews and encourage conversations via social media. – Way to communicate
According to Williams (2009) What is the first stage of the E-tail Evolution?
Stage 1 - Hype and experimentation, this is where people were experimenting with different websites
- Physical stores fear being ‘Amazoned’ are in shock/denial
- Entrepreneurial pioneers pursue ambitious and undisciplined expansion with high failure and start up rate
According to Williams (2009) What is the second stage of the E-tail Evolution?
Retrenchment and sobriety - About adapting or dying, understanding what type of adaptations you have to make in order to survive e.g retailers having to go online
- Was slower and more predictable change
According to Williams (2009) What is the thirdstage of the E-tail Evolution?
Sustainability - Stability emerges with predictable cyclical patterns of differentiation by low prices or specialisation
According to Williams (2009) What is the fourth stage of the E-tail Evolution?
Focus and Fragmentation - Increased business efficiencies increases ability to offer lower prices
Integrated multi-channel systems – Intergrated channel is more cost effective,allows you to be more effective and efficient
- Mass-customisation and hyper-targeting facilitates personalisation
What retailers are the leaders in regards to online retailing?
- Amazon
- John Lewis
- M&S
- Apple
What retailers are the laggards in regards to online retailing?
Topshop, Morrisons, Homebase , ticket master
Why do we shop online?
Convenience – 71% 24/7 access – 71% Betters prices – 53% Immediate order status – 44% More product info – 26% - Source Forest 2001
What are example of internet inconveniences?
- Poor internet interface, from slow response times to inefficient site design
- Poor description of goods
- Poor response with emails
What is show rooming and web rooming ?
Show- Shoppers go to stores to try out products before they buy cheaper online
Webrooming- Browse online and buy instore
Why use store based fulfilment?
- This includes using ship from store, in store pick ups and ship to store
- It requires low initial investments, allows spare capacity to be used and has the potential to reinforce store based customer relationships
What are the three waves of retail technology? (Burke,2010)
Brand and category management
Customer relationship Management
Customer Experience Management
Whats involved with wave 1 of retail technology?
- UPC barcode scanning introduced
Epos (Electronic point of sale) - Particularly useful with FMCG. Consists of a laser scanner capable of reading universal product codes, used to manage stock and track trends in behaviour - Saves time and money for retailers who can then put the money elsewhere
- Cashless payments allow for less fraud and handling of cash and faster transactions
- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - Exchange of electronic information between retailer and supplier
this may include delivery notes, invoices etc
Whats involved in wave 2 of retail technology?
Enabling technologies - Customer loyal cards, allows personal shopping to be targeted at consumer interests
- Allows a retailers to relatively cheaply build up a database of their customers who can be encouraged to remain/ become loyal customers
- Geodemograpahics - Classifying people into the postcodes in which they live e.g this is used by retailers to customise which different products they have in different stores.
Ready meals for singles or bumper packs for families
Within Wave 2, what is meant by data warehousing and micromarketing
- This is the bringing to together of various electronic data sources e.g epos data, geodemograpahics
- Useful for sharing of information across retail organisation
- Very large scale data analysis for marketing purposes
- Identification of the needs of store-specific markets
What is quick response replenishment systems?
- This uses the combines strength of Epos and Electronic data interchange
- Quick response replenishment and JIT delivery
- Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment aims to enhancesupply chainintegration by supporting and assisting joint practices.
- It seeks cooperative management of inventory through joint visibility and replenishment of products throughout the supply chain.
- Information shared between suppliers and retailers aids in planning and satisfying customer demands through a supportive system of shared information. This allows for continuous updating of inventory and upcoming requirements, making the end-to-end supply chain process more efficient.
- Efficiency is created through the decrease expenditures for merchandising, inventory, logistics, and transportation across all trading partners
What is involved in wave 3?
Enabling technologies - Real time customer tracking vis GPS, click stream etc
Causal variables - store layout, atmosphere, layout, instore events
- RFID ( Radio frequency identification) - , it presents a current view of what goods are present at any given location. In other words, goods are unlikely to get lost in any particular location.
- More efficient inventory levels
- Reduce labour currently used in tracking the movement of goods
- Reduce shrinkage
- Enhance food safety
- Taking inventory used to take 2 hours now only 45 mins
How do consumers become apart of EPOS based loyalty schemes?
They fill out their personal information alongside some questions about product preference they then receive an electric card
How does an EPOS loyalty card work?
- Collect points upon purchase which then add up and are redeemable
Whats the basic rationale behind loyalty schemes?
Increase profits by developing long term relationships with customers
What are the benefits of loyalty schemes?
- Its a lot easier to sell to existing customers than to recruit new ones
- They are also more likely to spend more money
- Allow retailers to relatively cheaply build up database on shopping habits who can then be personally targeted with incentives
Examples of Electronic loyalty schemes?
- My Waitrose Card
- Nectar card at Sainsbury’s
What are EPOS systems?
- Consist of a laser scanner that reads bar codes
- When scanned the computer records the sale and displays the price for the customer
What is RFID?
- Radio frequency identification
- products tagged with electromagnets that allow the product to be tracked throughout the supply chain
