Business Driven Technology - Research Paper Example

? Business Driven Technology Introduction The retail industry is undergoing a key transformation due to the improvement in technology. In present days, billions of users are embracing technology such as internet connectivity, mobile networking and online shopping among others which are profoundly changing the way in which people purchase and companies sell their products and services. Due to the emergence of myriad technologies, companies require to reconsider their business strategies and adjust themselves with the changing customers’ requirements. The changes in technology might be able to transform the way retail companies operate and can result in massive changes in the market. In the modern era, two popular business driven technologies are social networks and e-commerce. These technologies are considerably transforming the retail industry (Mercier et al., 2012). Based on this aspect, the paper describes the way in which these technologies have transformed the retail industry and also provides example of two companies that have applied them in the businesses. How Social Networks is Transforming Retail Industry The proliferation of social media is transforming the way people connect with each other and how they make purchasing decisions. As the channels for sales have increased and boundaries between them are disappearing, consumers are in higher requirement of combining brand experience. Due to social networking, consumers are more empowered and influential than before. Through social networking, they can easily compare prices, review products’ quality and evaluate the opinions of other customers which facilitate to shape the products and services of retail companies. The retail industry is already exploiting the social media for the purpose of marketing and commerce. The social media trends are forcing the industry in the direction of individual oriented marketing approach from retailers comprising components such as social commerce, real time marketing and supply chain collaborations. Essentially, this approach is subjected to transaction history of customers in combination with pertinent social networking behaviors. Social networking is starting to play an essential role in the associated retail experience. The retail shopping experience is facilitating to target individual customers (Symphony Teleca Corp., 2013). Social Media Strategies of Walmart Walmart is an international retail company which provides general merchandise products and groceries. The following figure demonstrates the SWOT analysis of one of the largest retail chains, Walmart. Walmart has learnt regarding the management of social networking in its business. The company faced several challenges due to controversial commercial activities and hence, it has utilized the social media for promoting the brand. For example, in the year 2008, the company introduced ‘checkoutblog.com’ which features the employees of the company. They provided their valuable opinions regarding the product varieties of Walmart and also gave supportive recommendations. It helped to develop a positive image of the company for large audience. Apart from this, Walmart also sponsored a blog named ‘Eleven Moms’. This blog has rapidly become a large community where women consumers’ converse subjects about motherhood, health products and budgeting (Barker, 2013). Walmart has attempted to leverage the technological tendencies of social networking by investing in mobile marketing services. For instance, in 2011, Walmart had acquired a social networking technology company namely Kosmix. This acquisition is essentially intended to utilize the monitoring application and to enlarge the online business. The Walmart program for iPhone delivers guidance to the customers while shopping electronic products, reviewing products and placing orders. These social media services are quite convenient and enjoyable for the present generation of customers (Barker, 2013). How Electronic Commerce is Transforming Retail Industry The other important business driven technology in the area of retail is electronic commerce or e-commerce. E-commerce has transformed the retail environment by replacing or by providing alternatives of physical retail spaces. E-commerce is broadly classified into two types which are B2C and B2B. From the international perspective, e-commerce sales have increased rapidly with increased online population along with changes of consumer purchasing behavior towards online sales. The simplicity and comfort of e-commerce have afforded people to change the traditional in-person shopping experience. Through e-commerce, customers are able to find their preferred products easily, compare the prices and features and review the comments from other purchasers. Besides, e-commerce also has transformed the way in which payment is done. The e-commerce explosion is the outcome of improvement in mobile and internet technology which determines the purchasing decisions. By providing businesses with an inexpensive method of reaching considerable number of customers, e-commerce provides unique business strategies to the retailers. Besides, e-commerce obliges the retailers to maintain a competitive pricing and to stay active in understanding customers’ requirements. The popularity of e-commerce has generated a new order in the retail channel. Traditionally, most retail stores were stocked up by direct distributions of products and services from different suppliers and wholesalers. Since the year 2000, e-commerce started to expand quickly which led the way of establishing electronic distribution networks. As a result, it inspired several retail organizations to establish their individual retail networks, where electronic fulfilment assortments with metropolitan logistics are based around population centers where online sales concentration is maximum (Forbes, 2013). E-commerce Strategies of Tesco Tesco is one of the biggest retailers throughout the world. It sells a variety of food products, apparels and other non-food items. The following figure demonstrates the SWOT analysis of one of the biggest multi-channel retailers, Tesco. Tesco has also utilized the e-commerce strategy in the business by introducing an online store. Through the online store, Tesco takes orders from the customers and accordingly provides products and services. Since 2005, Tesco has launched about six online shopping facilities to provide different products and services to the customers. With the integration of e-commerce in business, the operations such as monitoring inventory control, database management along with evaluating the extent of customers’ checkout and check-in have transformed. Besides, e-commerce allows Tesco to track the shopping trends of customers and consequently give promotional facilities to attract them (Jones Lang Lasalle, 2013). Conclusion Presently, retail customers seek for all-in-one shopping experience over multiple channels and also want to enjoy value from their preferred brands and companies. With regard to retailers, the emerging business driven technologies such as social networking and e-commerce can help to gain valuable understanding regarding the curiosity of customers, their purchasing habits and their favorite offerings by combining and evaluating the transactional information. The insights gained through these technologies can be used for developing custom-made customer experience through offering proper products at the right time through the appropriate channel. References Barker, M. (2013). Social media marketing: a strategic approach, 1st edition. United States: Cengage Learning. Forbes. (2013). 3 major tech trends transforming the retail landscape. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2013/01/21/3-major-tech-trends-transforming-the-retail-landscape/ Jones Lang Lasalle. (2013). E-commerce boom triggers transformation in retail logistics. Retrieved from http://static.tijd.be/upload/JLL__eCommerce_boom_triggers_transformation_in_retail_logistics_whitepaper_No__4481049-5613107.pdf Mercier, P., Jacobsen, R., & Veitch, A. (2012). Retail 2020: competing in a changing industry. Retrieved from https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/retail_digital_economy_retail_2020_competing_in_changing_industry/ Symphony Teleca Corp. (2013). 3 steps to retail transformation. Retrieved from http://www.symphonyteleca.com/media/154975/sp_p_ea_2013_3-steps-to-retail-transformation.pdf Read More