Eliza Baker Fashion Store - Digital Business Design and Technology - Case Study Example

Digital Business Design and Technology Name Date Course Executive Summary This report has been prepared for the purposes of identifying the weaknesses at Eliza Baker fashion store and recommending the possible solutions which are technology based. The weakness of the company is the failure to automate most of its activities as well as the failure to use technology. The store mainly operates through the use of the traditional models which affects its growth. The customer service is also affected by the use of manual activities and traditional models. It is recommended that the store should embrace online shopping system which is a concept of online commerce. A point of sale system as well as the in-store mobile technology can also been used to improve on the operations of the store. Shelf ready packaging technology is also required to reduce the manual work at the store. Introduction Eliza Baker is a fashion store that is located in Melbourne and it offers a variety of fashion products. The location of the company was formerly a bakery in the 1900s. The store sells international brands of clothes which includes famous Italian, Brazilian, Spanish and French brands. A collection of celebrity favourite designer is also available in the store. The famous Maya McQueen shoes are available in the store which attracts a wide range of customers. The services offered to the customers are of high quality as the employees of the store are friendly and they also possess some expertise with regards to the fashion trends (Eliza Baker, 2015). The customers can shop at the store through the online means or through visiting the store. The prices of the products of the company are also affordable to the customers. A discount of up to 40% is provided to the customers who have impacted positively on its sales and popularity. The store is frequented by high profile customers including the celebrities. The store has experienced a lot of growth and development and it is a competitor in the market. A new collection is usually displayed at the store for the purposes of meeting the demands of the customers. The store is usually opened from Monday to Saturday from 10am-5pm. The employees of the company usually take a day off on Sundays. The paper is, therefore, a report to the manager on how the business can be improved. Current system Currently, most of the operations of the stores are carried out manually and through the use of the traditional methods. The employees of the company usually display any new collections at the store where the customers can view it. The customers in most cases have to visit the store in order to see the new collect ions or any other product that they are interested in (Eliza Baker, 2015). Some of the new collection is usually posted on the website of the company for the purposes of ensuring that they are able to view it. However, this is usually not frequently used as the website is not updated from time to time. The customers who visit the store can pay for their selected goods through the use of cash or credit cards. Over the counter payment form the majority of the transactions at the store. The number of customers who shop online is quite low and the payment system is usually carried out electronically. The system that is used is however not secure and hence the low number of customers using it. The packaging of the selected products by the customers is usually carried out manually by the employees of the company. The levels of automation at the company are low as most of the activities are usually carried out manually. However, the employees are still able to meet most of the demands of the customers. The processes are slow at the company due to lack of automation and the customers at times experiences delays. Current situation diagram The store is usually opened at from 10am to 5pm in from Monday to Saturday (Eliza Baker, 2015). This means that the customers cannot shop throughout the week and throughout the day as compared to most of the businesses. The store usually opens late in order to allow the employees to make the required preparations. Most of the staff members at the company are working on a temporary basis and only a few are permanent employees. Stock taking is also a complex process at the store as technology is not used. The store usually deals with different suppliers who are located in different parts of the country and outside the country. The marketing of the products of the company is mainly carried out through the use of the local dailies. The internet is not actively used by the company for the purposes of advertising its products. A good number of customers have learnt about the store through the word of mouth as its location is not in an open place. The store has a social media page but is not used on a daily basis for interacting with the customers and advertising the products. The store mainly relies on the emails for interacting with the customers (Eliza Baker, 2015). The customers who have any complaints or comments in most case are required to use email. The company has been able to maintain a good relationship with the customers and suppliers as it usually address any complaints raised although it may take time depending on the nature of the issue raised. Strengths and Weaknesses About the Industry The fashion industry is highly globalized and one of the leading employers in the world. The design of the clothes is usually carried out in one country while the production is carried out in another. This is a common trend that is aimed at reducing the cost of production. The industry is experiencing a high growth rate which has seen it turn to a multi-billion industry. Public relations is one of the most important aspects in the industry and it is determines the success of a company or a retail store. The industry has faced criticism in the past for exploitation of labourers as well as children who are forced to work in the industries (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2012). There have been allegations that prisoners are involved in the production of some of the top quality designs in China. Some of the designs in from China are sold in the Australian market. In Australia, the industry is currently experiencing a high level of competition and growth. It is expected to grow by 3.3% between 2015 and 2016. The growth of the industry is mainly attributed to the rise of brick and mortar retailers and the development of online retailing. The industry is labour intensive as the employees are responsible for stocking the shelves and displaying the merchandize. The employers in most case are required to train their employees in order to improve on their performance. This increases the costs for most of the employers. High customer service is one of the aspects that most stores are using in order to increase on their competitiveness. SWOT Analysis Strength The products of the company are of high quality which attracts customers from a diverse social class. The store usually sell, the latest fashions in the market which attracts the celebrities. Most of the clothes that are sold in the store are from the top designers from different parts of the world. This plays an essential role in meeting the needs of the customers. The ability of the store to sell to collections from different parts of the world has impacted positively on the sales at the store. The brand image of the store is also good and it has managed to attract a high number of customers from different parts of the country (Eliza Baker, 2015). This is as a result of the high quality products that are sold. The management of the company is highly qualified. The owner of the store has years of experience in the fashion industry which contributes to the good brand image. The employees of the company have also undergone some training which enables them to meet the needs of the customers. The store has also embraced the diversification of its products. The store sells the latest fashion of clothes, shoes as well as jewels. This has impacted positively on its ability to attract a diverse group of customers. The store has a good reputation among the customers due to the high levels of integrity and ethics. The ability of an organization to meet the demands of the customers is an indication of its success. Weaknesses The levels of automation t the store is low and most of the activities are usually carried out manually by the employees. Most of the packaging as well as the arrangement of the clothes and other products is usually carried out manually by the employees. It is due to the manual tasks that the store has to open at 10am and close at 5pm due to the exhaustion of the employees. The costs of labour at the store is high as it has about 20 employees majority of whom carry out the manual tasks. A lot of productive time is thus spent on manual activities as opposed to selling the products of the store (Weller, 2013). The use of technology at the store is low which has negative effects on the operations as well as sales. Although the store has a website, it is not fully utilized in terms of carrying out e-commerce. The company mainly relies on the traditional methods for carrying out sales. Customers have to visit the store in order to make purchases. Online shopping is not being fully utilized by the store and hence locking out some of the potential customers. The advertisements at the company through the use of the internet is also carried out to a limited extent and hence affecting the ability of the store to utilize the online shopping and e-commerce concepts. The store also faces some challenges in terms of managing the supply chain. This is considering that the store is required to order products from different parts of the world. Opportunities The fashion industry is experiencing a lot of growth and development. The needs of the customers are also experiencing a lot of changes. The demand for the international brand from countries such as Spain, Brazil and France is on the increase. The store therefore has the opportunity to use technology in order to enhance its operations. The use of technology involves the e-commerce as well as the online shopping concepts. Most of the customers in Australia are increasingly shopping online and this trend is also on the increase in the industry (Sejin & leslie, 2012). Embracing the use of technology will therefore increase the customer base for the company. The technological advancement in the industry has also led to changes with regards to how activities are carried out. Technology can be used for the purposes of replacing the manual activities at the store. The store therefore has an opportunity to embrace automation in order to reduce the use of manual activities. The automation of activities is increasingly being embraced by most of the competitors at the market. The company usually sells high quality products within Australia and it has an opportunity to explore the international market. The company can enter the international market where the demand for most of the collections sold at the store is high. At the international market, the large companies are facing a lot of competition from the fashion stores. Most of the customers prefer the fashion stores as it meets the needs of a diverse group of customers. The store has an opportunity to design its own brand and sell it to the customers. This trend is increasingly becoming common in the industry. Most of the stores as well as individuals are designing their own clothing labels. The local labels in Australia are performing well and the store therefore has an opportunity well at the local market (Song, et al, 2012). The demand for Australian brands is also on the increase and this may impact positively on the store. This is considering that it has enough adequate human resources as well as expertise to develop the local brands and designs. The store has an opportunity to work with the major companies in the fashion industry. This can be achieved through partnerships and joint ventures. This can be carried out based on the popularity of the store among the customers in Melbourne. The store also has an opportunity of enhancing its payment system. The payment system of the store can be digitized so as to enhance the customer experience. This opportunity will enable the store to improve on the accuracy of the payment system. The store also has an opportunity of embracing the use of technology to improve on its supply chain. The store therefore has a wide range of opportunities that will impact positively on its operations as well as profitability. Threats The fashion industry is quite competitive and the store faces a lot of competition from the local stores as well as the international companies. Some of the local stores that offer competition to Eliza Baker include Shag, Scally and Trombone, INCU, Fame Agenda and Lady Petrova. These stores are all located in Melbourne and have a considerable number of customers in the market. H&M which is an international brand is also offering competition to the company based on its popularity and financial stability (Fatema, 2012). The industry is increasingly facing a lot of challenges due to the high costs that is involved in the production process. This has increased the process of the products leading to the reduction in the number of customers. The laws and regulations in the industry are increasingly being reviewed with the aim of ensuring that it is tough. This is for the purposes of avoiding any form of exploitation of employees. The tough laws and regulations is a threat to the store and it may affect its operations. The industry is also facing a lot of changes from time to time due to the high demands of the customers and changes in the needs of the customers. The constant changes usually lead to some of the labels as well as brands being phased out of the market. This is a threat to the store as it may experience massive losses when part of its stock cannot be bought. Recommendations It is recommended that the store should fully embrace the online shopping concept which is a useful e-commerce tool. The online shopping will enable the customers to purchase the merchandize from the store through the internet. The store will be required to redesign its website so as to ensure that it supports on-line shopping. The customers will be required to register and open their accounts online so as to enable them to shop online. The store will be required to develop the system which will be supported by the internet, hardware and software. The online shopping will be beneficial to the customers as they will not necessarily be required to physically visit the store. The customers can shop at their own comfort ad their merchandize delivered to them (Oxborrow, 2014). Currently the store operates from 10am to 5pm Mondays to Saturdays. This limits the ability of the customers to shop at the store. However, with the online shopping system, the customers can shop from any location at any time. The online shopping system will therefore improve on the sales of the store. More revenue will be collected from the online sales as the system is accurate. The store will experience more growth and development as a result of using the online shopping system. The online shopping system will reduce the queues that are usually seen at the store. This is because the customers will be able to shop from at their own convenience. This is beneficial to both the customers and the store as the heavy workload carried out by the employees will be reduced. Recommended online shopping mode The online shopping will increase the customer base of the store. Through online shopping, customers from all over the world are able to purchase the products of a company. This has positive impacts on the business as its sales will improve. The store will also benefit considering that its merchandize are on high demand in the local as well as international market. The profitability of the will therefore improve as a result of using the online shopping. The store will also gain a competitive advantage as a result of using the online shopping system which will improve on the efficiency and increase the customer base. It is recommended that the store should consider using the security technology to secure its merchandise as some of them are quite expensive. This will involve attaching a magnetic tag to all the clothing items on the store shelves (Fatema, 2012). This will prevent any incidences of shop lifting and will also allow a high number of customers to visit the store view the latest fashion as well as the shop. This is however a measure that will ensure that the store is able to secure its products without the need of employing more security staff members when it experiences a higher growth. The security technology plays an important role in altering the law enforcers incase someone tries to open the store illegally. The technology will therefore play an essential role in preventing any incidences of theft or robbery at the store. It is recommended that a point of sale system be installed at the store. The point of sale system is a software program that is usually attached to the cash register for the purposes of speeding up the transaction process and reducing the possibility of a human error (Song, et al, 2012). The use of this system will reduce any human errors at the store when handling the cash or any other form of payment. This system automatically provides the price information to the cashiers and hence reducing the time taken to process transactions. This system can also work with the inventory management system and it will provide the store with information regarding the individual item sold. This means that the store will not have to carry manual calculations in order to manage the stock and inventory. The process of ordering new merchandize based on the demand will be improved. The use of this system will be useful in solving the problems being faced by the store in terms of the supply chain and the inventory management. The efficiency of the store will be improved and it will also be able to meet the needs of more customers at any one given time. It is recommended that the store should also embrace the in-store mobile technology. This technology will enable the customers to make payments through their mobile phones and hence reducing the long queues that is witnessed during payment. This is also useful in ensuring that that the payment system is streamlined. The mobile phone application can also be used by the customers inside the store for searching their required products. The mobile applications can also be used for the purposes of updating the customers when discounts are being offered (Weller, 2013). The mobile application is therefore an important marketing tool that can improve on the efficiency of the store. It is recommended that the store should introduce the shelf-ready packaging technology in order to minimize on the manual work. This will also reduce the time taken by the employees when carrying out the manual activities. Through the use of the technology, less time will be spent on manual activities and hence ensuring that the store can be opened early. The use of technology will be beneficial to the store as it will improve on its efficiency as well as capacity. The levels of customer satisfaction will also be improved at the store through the use of technology. List of References Eliza Baker, 2015, About us, Retrieved on 13th August 2015 from, . Bhardwaj, V & Fairhurst, A, 2012, Fast Fashion: Response to changes in the fashion industry, The international Review of Retail Distribution and Consumer Research, Volume 20 Issue 1, pp 165-173. Weller, S, 2013, Consuming the city: Public Fashion Festivals and the participatory Economies of Urban spaces in Melbourne Australia, Journal of urban studies. Sejin, H & leslie, S, 2012, Online apparel retailing: Roles of e-shopping quality and experimental e-shopping motives, Journal of Service management, Vol 23 Iss: 2, PP 197-215. Song, Z, et al, 2012, Street-to-shop: Cross-Scenario clothing retrieval via parts alignment and auxiliary set, CVPR. Fatema, K, 2012, Online Shopping environments in fashion shopping: An SOR based review, The Marketing Review, Volume 12, Number 2, pp. 161-180. Oxborrow, L, 2014, Disintermediation in the apparel supply Chain, Fashion Marketing and Management. Read More