What Considerations Banana Republic Clothing Company Takes into Account for Tech Change - Assignment Example

Banana Republic Clothing Company Grade (December 7, Banana Republic Clothing Company What considerations did your company take into account for tech change? The company was established in 1978, and it has remained an icon of fashion and new trends both in the American fashion industry and also globally (Banana Republic, 2013). Technology has played an important role in the transformation of Banana Republic Clothing Company into the icon of fashion it is today. The technological change came most especially after the company was acquired by GAap Inc. in 1983 (Banana Republic, 2013). The factors that the company considered in deciding for the technology change include the ease of accessibility of the company’s product information by the potential customer. The technology change was also targeted at the diversification of the company from physical point of sale to online platforms for enhanced customer convenience and experiences, as well as cost reduction and competitiveness of the digital technology platforms compared to the traditional physical location selling platforms (Banana Republic, 2013). What technology do they take into account that can support decision making? The vendor-managed inventory, an important technology adapted by the company allows the vendors of the company’s product to transmit information directly to the company, regarding their stock levels and the movement of each of the company’s brands, through using the RFID tracking technology (Roberti, 2011). This technology has helped in the business decision-making of the Banana Republic Clothing Company, through allowing the company to gather information on the quantity of each fashion and clothing item it will manufacture and supply to the vendors, without waiting for the vendors to send orders (Roberti, 2011). The e-commerce platform is yet another technological change that Banana Republic Clothing Company has adapted. This has seen the company create online point of sales from where the customers can make orders for the clothing and other fashion items they might need from the company (Banana Republic, 2013). Consequently, the company has grown its incomes by 21% in 2013, compared to the year 2012 (Banana Republic, 2013). The e-commerce platform has enhanced the company decision making through gathering customer response information through online customer surveys, which then allow the company to tailor-make and customize its fashion and clothing products to the tastes of the customers. What technology supports knowledge work? The other most notable technology adoption by the Banana Republic Clothing Company, which places the company ahead of the rest of the fashion and clothing companies, is the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology (Roberti, 2011). The RFID technology is an item tracking technology that is applied towards tracking clothing and other items that the company offers to its customers, through the use of a radio frequency chip or even chip-less technology that can detect the material of a uniquely manufactured clothing and fashion item from whichever location (Roberti, 2011). Banana Republic Clothing Company has rolled out this technology in 100 of its stores, and is continuing to expand the technology to all its stores. The benefit of the RFID technology to Banana Republic Clothing Company is that it has reduced chances of theft of the company’s clothing and fashion items from its stores, as well as reducing process errors in accounting for the value of the fashion items (Roberti, 2011). What Apps (i.e. Mobile Apps) do they currently use? The BR Banana Republic Official is a mobile application that is used by Banana Republic Clothing Company to allow its customers to access and evaluate its products, through finding, saving and then purchasing the products of their interest whenever it is convenient for the customers (BR Official, 2014). The BR Official mobile application on Android allows the customers to browse all the products offered by the company, which offers detailed product description including the size, color and varieties of the products available for the customers (BR Official, 2014). The mobile app also allows the customer to scan products in stores so that more varieties and sizes can be displayed to give the customer a wide range of choices. The mobile app also allows customers to buy directly from the company online stores, through saving their credit card and address information, and then ordering products which are delivered to their addresses (BR Official, 2014). In addition, the BR Official mobile application also offers e-mail options, allowing customers to e-mail their friends or themselves the product information they find important for future use (BR Official, 2014). What App could you develop that would be useful for the company? The mobile application that could prove useful for Banana Republic Clothing Company is the credit card activation and de-activation mobile app. This app would enhance the speed in which customers can submit their credit card information for online payment, and also de-activate their subscription to the company services once they wish to leave the services. This app would solve a major problem that the customers of Banana Republic Clothing Company are currently experiencing, which is the delay in cancellation and de-activation of their credit card subscriptions once they wish to cancel their credit use on the company’s online shopping platform (Consumer Affairs, 2014). The customers are always delayed, and most of the time they have to make calls to the relevant departments to request for the credit card cancellation (Consumer Affairs, 2014). This tedious and bureaucratic process has proven inconvenient for the customers, and thus needs a better, fast and easy way of addressing, which can be addressed through the development of the mobile app for credit card activation and deactivation. Would the App deliver business intelligence, transactions, or multimedia content? The mobile app will deliver business transactions, since it will enhance the speed and convenience with which customers can activate and deactivate their subscription to the Banana Republic Clothing Company online buying platforms. Considering the fact that the mobile app to be developed would target to allow the customers to activate and deactivate their credit card subscription to the company’s online buying platform, more transactions will be registered by the company. The ease of activation and deactivation of the credit card subscription by the customers will enhance the speed with which the customers can join or leave the company’s online buying platform. This means that the flow of online transactions will be much higher compared to the present situation, where the customer credit card subscription is low, due to the bureaucratic process involved, especially in the deactivation of the credit card subscription (Consumer Affairs, 2014). After going through their website, what do you like and what would you change? The most likeable aspect of the Banana Republic Clothing Company website is that it gives information relating to the company’s product offering and the nature of the discount offers that the company grants to its customers, such as the 40% discount on all purchases, as well as the free shipping of all orders worth more than $50 (bananarepublic.gap.com, 2014). Additionally, the company’s website offers information related to the new arrivals and grants the customers an option to subscribe for notification of the new arrivals, so they can be the first to take advantage of this offering (bananarepublic.gap.com, 2014). Nevertheless, one aspect of the Banana Republic Clothing Company website that is not likeable is the coloring schemes applied on the website. The company’s website is dull, since it mostly applies less bright colors such a grey, brown and black. These colors do not appear to be highly attractive for a fashion and clothing company, where color is a major selling point. Therefore, the coloring scheme of the website is a major aspect that requires to be changed, such that the fashion items displayed can comprise of many bright colors such as red, white blue, green and yellow; all of which are bright colors that can brighten up the company’s website coloring scheme. This would easily attract the eye of the potential customers, since beauty is a key attraction for online buying platforms. References Banana Republic. (2013). 2013 Annual Report. Gap Inc. 1-110. bananarepublic.gap.com (2014). http://bananarepublic.gap.com/? BR Banana Republic Official. (2014). Android Mobile App. Available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skava.hybridapp.bananarepublic&hl=en Consumer Affairs. (2014). Banana Republic: Consumer Complaints & Reviews. Available at: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/retail/banana_republic.html Roberti, M. (2011). RFID Delivers Unexpected Benefits at American Apparel. Radio Frequency Identification Journal. Available at: http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?8918 Read More