Implementing New Technology: Recommendations
The creation of a viable and efficient supply chain is crucial to a company’s further success in a target market. The identified choice is especially important for a firm entering the global market, where competition levels are getting increasingly high.
Herein lies the usefulness of new technology for an average organization. By incorporating innovative technological solutions into corporate processes and especially communication, a firm can build an infrastructure in which logistics-related expenses and losses will be reduced to a minimum. Therefore, the target company should include the latest technological tools to ensure that its levels of competitiveness remain high. Unless new technology is incorporated into the corporate setting, the firm will be unable to process the available data adequately and make appropriate decisions.
At present, the use of new technology will affect the quality and speed of Feets’ key supply chain processes, particularly, information management. For example, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) will serve as the platform for arranging information efficiently. Particularly, the loss of crucial data will be prevented successfully. Similarly, Efficient Customer Response (ECR) needs to be introduced into the corporate setting to build a tool for efficient communication with customers (Chopra & Meindl, 2012). It is critical to receive feedback from buyers; thus, Feet will be able to ensure the quality of its products.
Using collaboration, planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR) will also have to be considered one of the crucial steps toward making Feets competitive and successful in the global market. CPFR will create an entirely transparent setting where key information will flow uninhibitedly. As a result, a range of misunderstandings, misconceptions, and instances of data mismanagement will be avoided or prevented at the earliest stages of their development (Chopra & Meindl, 2012).
The focus on collaboration among employees in the context of Feets’ supply chain can also be deemed as one of the crucial aspects of CPRF’s efficacy. Indeed, with the adoption of the suggested tool, one will be able to minimize the instances of conflicts and confrontations among staff members, thus encouraging a positive shift in the corporate relationships’ dynamics.
Finally, the use of e-commerce must be regarded as one of the essential methods of promoting Feets’ products and helping them enter a new market. E-commerce helps embrace a wide range of audiences and locate the ways of catering to their needs successfully (Yu, Wang, Zhong, & Huang, 2016). In addition, the use of e-commerce can be considered an important step in addressing possible issues with offline shops (Bonetti, 2014). Therefore, Feet should deploy the suggested technologies in its corporate setting to create a sustainable environment in which the company can build its competitive advantage.
Sears: Possible Technological Solutions to Use as an Example
The importance of e-commerce as one of the tools for attracting an increasingly wide range of customers has grown significantly over the past few years. Because of the opportunities that the online environment has provided, most companies have transferred their activities to its realm, offering customers a chance to shop online as well as in retail outlets (Du & Tang, 2014). Sears is no exception to the specified trend; according to the recent data, the company has created an elaborate logistics strategy to improve the quality of its products and increase customer satisfaction levels (Chopra & Meindl, 2012).
Indeed, the designed approach allows for a steep rise in the number of potential buyers since it helps the company to both provide its customers with additional purchasing options and gain a larger exposure (Geetha & Shetty, 2017). Nevertheless, the organization’s struggle to retain its revenue streak and manage new challenges associated with e-commerce shows that it is imperative to conduct an all-embracive market analysis before deploying the specified device.
Therefore, in some way, Sears can be viewed as one of the prime examples of using e-commerce properly. The company has managed to retain the popularity of its outlets and, at the same time, target a new crowd. E-commerce has served as the platform for learning about the needs and requirements of a younger generation, particularly, opportunities for meeting Millennials’ needs have opened for Sears (Chopra & Meindl, 2012).
The organization has shown that re-evaluating the unique properties of customers and identifying their tastes are essential steps for improving the quality of e-commerce processes (Chopra & Meindl, 2012). For example, Sears has struggled with changing its products in a way that would appeal to a new demographic (“Sears tanked because the company failed to shift to digital,” 2016). Thus, an in-depth analysis of new customers’ needs, as well as their culture and background, is essential to the successful transfer to the online market. In addition, Sears’ experience has shown that rebranding must remain consistent with the company’s current offline brand.
Therefore, even though Sears has managed to incorporate a set of efficient logistics-related tools, the lack of emphasis on building a viable marketing strategy has affected the organization negatively. Still, Sears’ experience can be regarded as an important example of using e-commerce to attract new audiences. While altering it to meet the needs of new buyers is vital, the product must also remain recognizable. Sears, however, preferred altering its product entirely, thus, reducing its recognizability.
The firm has shown what happens when the transfer to the online setting has not been thought through and why it is important to conduct a detailed assessment of customers. As long as the needs and unique properties of a target population are identified, and strategies for improving SCM are designed, a firm can enter the domain of e-commerce.
References
Bonetti, F. (2014). Italian luxury fashion brands in China: A retail perspective. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 24(4), 453-477.
Chopra, S., & Meindl, P. (2012). Supply chain management (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Du, Y., & Tang, Y. (2014). Study on the development of O2O e-commerce platform of China from the perspective of offline service quality. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(4), 308-312.
Geetha, E., & Shetty, A. D. (2017). E-commerce industry significant factor for the growth of Indian economy. Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 7(4), 177-183.
Sears tanked because the company failed to shift to digital. (2016). Business Insider. Web.
Yu, Y., Wang, X., Zhong, R. Y., & Huang, G. Q. (2016). E-commerce logistics in supply chain management: Practice perspective. Procedia CIRP, 52, 179-185.