Smart Shop is a proposed new retail shopping experience that uses full body scanners and virtual dressing rooms to allow customers to browse, try on, and purchase clothes digitally within store changing rooms. This aims to improve the shopping experience and make retailers more competitive against online shopping. Key aspects include scanning customers' measurements, displaying clothing options on a touch screen mirror, and processing payments directly in the changing room. The business would target traditional brick-and-mortar retailers struggling against e-commerce. It would be a focused, high-cost strategy requiring significant investment in scanning, display, and integration technologies and systems.
Original Description:
Information Systems 110 Semester 2 - Deliverable 2
Smart Shop is a proposed new retail shopping experience that uses full body scanners and virtual dressing rooms to allow customers to browse, try on, and purchase clothes digitally within store changing rooms. This aims to improve the shopping experience and make retailers more competitive against online shopping. Key aspects include scanning customers' measurements, displaying clothing options on a touch screen mirror, and processing payments directly in the changing room. The business would target traditional brick-and-mortar retailers struggling against e-commerce. It would be a focused, high-cost strategy requiring significant investment in scanning, display, and integration technologies and systems.
Smart Shop is a proposed new retail shopping experience that uses full body scanners and virtual dressing rooms to allow customers to browse, try on, and purchase clothes digitally within store changing rooms. This aims to improve the shopping experience and make retailers more competitive against online shopping. Key aspects include scanning customers' measurements, displaying clothing options on a touch screen mirror, and processing payments directly in the changing room. The business would target traditional brick-and-mortar retailers struggling against e-commerce. It would be a focused, high-cost strategy requiring significant investment in scanning, display, and integration technologies and systems.
Name Cathlina Esclamado NetID cesc792 Group Number: 114 Website Link: http://2014s2group114.blogspot.co.nz/ Tutorial Details Tutor: Day: Time: Helen Tuesday 1 pm Time Spent on Assignment: 32 hours Word Count: 1569
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2 SMART SHOP INTRODUCTION The inefficiencies of traditional shopping methods have cause a shift from traditional brick- and-mortar retailers to the more convenient and quick online shopping. Retail stores are not adapting, causing the closure of stores worldwide. Smart Shop is a new, innovative shopping experience that that uses scanning technology to identify your exact body measurements. After storing and processing this information it produces all the possible clothing/shoe options on a touch screen mirror. You can then dress yourself up like a characeter on Sims. Everything from browsing to payment is done in a changing room and you also get the added benefit of seeing how the clothes fit on you a benefit impossible with online shopping. Smart Shop should make shopping convenient, easy and fun giving retailers a competitive advantage over their online counterparts.
3. BUSINESS SECTION 3.1 Vision To assist businesses struggling to adapt and compete in a changing world driven by e- commerce, by delivering innovative technologies that offer a competitive advantage. 3.2 Industry Analysis: Technology and process solutions industry Industry: Technology development and process solutions industry Force: High/Low: Justification: Buyer power: High Retailers that want to improve efficiencies in their business processes can choose from a numerous amount of companies such as IBM and HP which offer technology development and process solutions therefore buyer power is high. Supplier power: Low With technology increasingly being an import part of modern day life suppliers can be found all around the world and at competitive prices.Companies in the technology and process solutions industry have many choices when it comes to finding suppliers for their products, therefore supplier power is low.
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3 Threat of substitutes: Low With traditional retail shopping already at a rapid decline most retailers have no choice but to enlist the help of technology and processs solutions to make their business processes better. Technology and information systems are a competitive necessity in every industry and thus there are little to no substitutes for it. Threat of new entrants: Low Technology and process solutions companies spend years, millions of dollars and the knowledge of staff from many different sectors of the workforce from technology development to enterprise architechts to engineers. There are also so many companies developing new technologies that a new company with an unestablished reputation is highly likely to fail. There are significantly high entry barriers for this industry therefore threat of new entrants is low. Rivalry among existing competitors: High Technology is rapidly changing and technology developers which focus on business process solutions are highly competitive in constantly creating new and innovative technologies to satisfy customer needs and remain relevant in the industry, so rilvary and competition is very fierce. Overall attractiveness of the industry: The technology development and process solutions industry is fairly attractive with 3 of the 5 forces being low. Although buyer power and rivalry is high, when a company is innovative and constantly creating new products and technologies to differentiate themselves from other companies, they can gain a significant competitive advantage and be very successful in the industry.
3.3 Customers and Their Needs
Smart Shops target customers are all traditional retail clothing stores looking to improve process efficiencies in stores and compete against e-commerce to remain relevant in the rapidly changing technological world.
3.4 The Product and Service Smart Shop will improve productivity and process efficiencies as staff no longer need to return tried clothes or exchange items that are the wrong size. More changing rooms can be established with the extra space and since payments can be made in the changing room there will be no lines for the changing room or the checkout. This will improve customer satisfaction significantly, as stores will be less cluttered, there will be no need to hunt for your size and the clothes bought will be brand new and untried by other people therefore
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4 solving the causes of why online shopping has grown substantially. The experience of dressing yourself up virtually with clothes you can actually purchase is fun and easy, providing a competitive advantage against online shopping for the stores with Smart Shop. 3.5 Suppliers and Partners Suppliers: 1. Scanning equipment manufacturers need to supply full body scanners that are used in the changing rooms to capture measurements. Scanners should prove a 360 o scan to achieve the most accurate measurements. 2. Touch screen suppliers provide large touch screens that display the shoppers image and clothing options. The touch screens would be similar to an iPad but on a larger scale. Partners: 1. Smart Shop needs to partner with all major banks/EFTPOS payment systems to enable customers to pay through the changing room payment system. 2. Smart Shop can partner with shopping malls who can advertise the Smart Shop system to retailers currently renting space in their malls. 3.6 Strategy: Focused High Cost strategy Smart Shop specifically targets clothing retailers in a traditional brick and mortar setting therefore its competitive scope is focused. The cost strategy is high cost because Smart Shop would cost a lot of money to install, implement and maintain. Since it is technology based it will also need to be continually upgraded. The overall strategy is therefore Focused High Cost
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5 3.7 Value Chain Acti vi ty: Deliver the product/service The most important value chain activity for this business is delivering the product/service. Smart Shops vision is to assist businesses struggling to adapt and compete in a changing world driven by e-commerce, by delivering innovative technologies that offer a competitive advantage. These goals are only achieved when the retailer and retailers customers can actually physically use the Smart Shop system in store. This means the most important value chain activity would be the delivering of the product/service, as all preceding acitivities are of no use until the product is ordered, delivered and installed in the store and used. Since its strategy is focused high cost, the product/service Smart Shop delivers should satisfy customers specific needs because they are catering for a narrow market and their customers are paying a high amount of money for Smart Shop. 3.8 Business Processes 3.8.1. ORDER-TO-DELIVERY PROCESS This process is important as the ordering process is the first interaction customers have with the business. It is important that this process is efficient in enabling the business to meet the customers specifications in a timely manner.
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2.8.2. INSTALLATION PROCESS The installation process is an important process in the organisation as its vision cannot be achieved unless the product is installed in-store and used by the retailer and their customers. It is important that the Smart Shop system components are properly installed and tested so customers can use it without problems.
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3.9 Functionalities 3.9.1. ORDER-TO-DELIVERY PROCESS Record customer orders Check customer credit 3.9.2. INSTALLATION PROCESS Collaborate Smart Shop system with existing store database Records complete transactions and any queries/concerns of the customer 3.10 Systems 3.10.1. ORDER PROCESSING SYSTEM This system records customer orders and the status of the order in a central system allowing the ease of information flow/access to different departments, preventing duplication or mistatements in the information which could lead to errors. This makes the order-to-delivery process more efficient thus enabling the business to serve their customers in a timely manner. This supports their vision to assist struggling businesses as the faster the Smart Shop system can be delivered and installed, the faster the organisations customers (the retailers) can gain the competitive advantage it brings. 3.10.2. DATABASE INTEGRATION SYSTEM This system collaborates Smart Shop system (changing room equipement and software system) with existing store database. This means all 3 functions are integrated and information can flow between them. This is important in supporting the organizations vision as the Smart Shop system will not work unless all 3 functions are working in tandem. The 3 functions work together to create the Smart Shop system which is aimed to assist businesses struggling to adapt and compete in the changing world driven by e-commerce. It will provide the retail stores customers with a new shopping experience therefore offering a first-mover advantage to the stores using Smart Shop. 3.10.3. ORDER FULFILLEMENT SYSTEM - This system records completed transactions and any queries/concerns of the customer. This supports the organisations vision as completed orders means the Smart Shop product is being used by customers and their customers. It is important that customer
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9 queries/concerns are recorded so that the organisation maintains a close relationship with them so they can further develop the product so they can continue assisting businesses struggling to adapt and compete in the changing world driven by e-commerce.
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10 3.11. Summary Tabl e: Value Chain to Systems
Value Chain Activity Processes Functionalities Specific Information System(s) Broad Information System(s)
Delivering the product/service 1. Order-to- delivery process
1. Record customer orders
2. Check customer credit
Order processing system
Credit checking system
ERP system
TPS
2. Installation process
1. Collaborate Smart Shop system with existing store database.
2. Records complete transactions and any queries/concerns of the customer
Database integration system
Order fullfilment system ERP system
CRM system
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11 CONCLUSION Smart Shop aims to assist businesses struggling to adapt and compete in a changing world driven by e-commerce, by delivering innovative technologies that offer a competitive advantage. The use of information systems and technology in the organization enables them to efficiently serve their customers in a timely manner by integrating all information sources in one system. It also makes the Smart Shop product they offer their customer covenient to implement and use which benefits the organization, their customer and their customers customers. REFERENCES
Jason Perlow (E-commerce will make the shopping mall a retail wasteland, 2013). Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/e-commerce-will-make-the-shopping- mall-a-retail-wasteland-7000009960/
Ian MacKenzie, Chris Meyer and Steve Noble (How retailers can keep up with consumers, 2013). Retrived from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/consumer_and_retail/how_retailers_can_keep_ up_with_consumers
Five Forces references: IBM industries. Retrived from http://www- 935.ibm.com/industries/retail/shopping_experience.html HP industries. Retrived from http://www8.hp.com/us/en/industries/retail- consumer-goods.html?compURI=1091470#.VDM0JymSzBc CIO Review (20 Most Promising Retail Technology Solution companies, 2013). Retrived from http://www.cioreview.com/magazine/20-Most-Promising-Retail- Technology-Solutions-Companies-of-2013-DCMQ543601524.html Chelsey Bauer ( Porters 5 Forces Model, 2013). Retrived from https://sites.google.com/site/computerindustryadmn703/home/porter-s-five- forces-model Apple (Supplier list, 2014) https://www.apple.com/supplier- responsibility/pdf/Apple_Supplier_List_2014.pdf Ian MacKenzie, Chris Meyer and Steve Noble (How retailers can keep up with consumers, 2013). Retrived from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/consumer_and_retail/how_retailers_can_keep_ up_with_consumers