Supply Chain
The highlighted process flow chart in the ‘before’ section shows the actual process that takes place at a hardware store in the neighborhood. There is a clear indication that customers spend a lot of unnecessary time in the store. For instance, waiting in the check-out Lines when the store is busy takes about 20 minutes for every customer. The store has a limited number of attendants to help customers and to confirm their receipts and products, which makes the wait even longer. Even when all the check-out stations have attendants, the Lines are too long. It is also apparent that 90% of the customers in the store live around the city, which implies that they are loyal customers.
The proposed innovative changes in the process are customer-focused, and they look into influencing an approach that leverages technology. By developing an online store, the company will facilitate a platform that eliminates the need for customers to waste their time driving to the store and dealing with slow services and long Lines. The plan entails shifting the business from the physical store to the e-commerce platform that allows customers to select products from the online store. This will require the company to develop a database to hold data from the client’s accounts, and also to develop the capabilities for new clients to make purchases and highlight the specific locations for deliveries. This system will be beneficial for the company because it will eliminate the need to hire attendants. This will translate to lower financial liability. The company will only need to maintain an IT department to deal with the data and to confirm orders and schedule deliveries (Barnes & Hunt 2013). The store will also require a product delivery system with a fleet of vehicles and the relevant personnel.
Leveraging technology to enhance the quality of services offered to customers is one of the current trends in business (Da Costa 2016). Most companies have developed online stores alongside their physical retailing stores to harness a larger market share, and to enhance the satisfaction of their loyal customers. Eliminating the need for clients to make hectic trips to the store and having quality products delivered to their doorsteps is quite an innovative approach to service delivery, and it will increase the value of the products. Additionally, the company can use the data collected from orders to develop a supply chain that meets the demand for specific products. This way, the company will eliminate losses and reduce stocks of products that move slowly in the market. The subsequent results will involve a highly satisfied loyal customer base for the company.
List of References
Barnes, S & Hunt, B 2013, E-commerce and v-business, Routledge, London.
Da Costa, E 2016, Global e-commerce strategies for small businesses, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.