Digital Marketing Case Study on Electronic Retailing

Question

Task: Please take some time to view the following three videos (at least twice) on the future of shopping.

Video 1.Alibaba’s New Retail Experience (5mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=336YkwayCD4
Video 2. Retail 2020: 5 Technologies (6 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRvaWHk3A8k
Video 3. Supermarket 2020: A vision of the future? (4 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Ezl-_jhzU

Now consider the following questions:
1. Does the huge growth in ‘online shopping’ really mean the extinction of the traditional ‘high street’ store…or can they successfully co-exist?
2. Discuss the 5 ‘New’ technologies outlined in video 2 and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each technology.
3. In video 3 we see Symphony Retail’s vision of Supermarket 2020. Discuss what your Supermarket of the future would look like and what it should contain/not contain.

Answer

1. Discuss whether 'Online shopping' and 'high street' stores can successfully coexist
It is evident in this digital marketing case study that not many years ago, people only knew about shopping from the local market. Although they faced many problems like long likes, bad weather and parking issues still they chose to go there. When online shopping was introduced people felt uncomfortable using it. They were uncomfortable about sharing their personal and bank details with the cyber shops. This has changed immensely within some years. Online shopping plays a very important role in our life these days. It has been evolving profoundly throughout the years. People can buy almost anything online. It can be books, software, electronics, furniture and many other things. It is not only time-efficient but also gives a good price value. This is the reason why it is growing so fast and has become a craze among people (Duarteet al., 2018) People are visiting online platforms more for buying products than retail shops. Online shopping malls, e-stores and internet shops give the customer a wide variety of options to choose from.

Before online shopping came into existence, people had to go to local markets. It was considered before buying and selling of goods involved in active physical interaction. The high street stores consisted of a particular variety of product. The retail shops did not have a wide variety of good. It is seen that many high street stores, shopping centers and retail parks are closing rapidly. Many outlets are seen closing in the high street. The small shops and local markets are having a tough time keeping their shops open. The number of people going to buy goods is decreasing day by day. The most common reason for this is online shopping (Zhang et al., 2017). The struggling retailers are closing their shops because they cannot afford to pay their workers and landlords for the shop they own. There are researchers at A&M who have stated that over this last few years companies have spent 10.8% more cash on cost. Those costs include wages, rent and business rate. High rents have also created problems for retailers. Another reason retail shopis lacking behind is the less platform for advertisement. With the growing competition in the market, the retail stores are having a hard time advertising their product to customers.

Currently, it is seen that people are trying to bring these two platforms together. There is a visible synergy between the online and offline shopping industry. The customers are also enjoying the experience which encloses a seamless integration between the brick and mortar and online platform. The customers expect a fast, simple and flexible way of shopping. This way they can get all the things together. They can buy products sitting in their house from a retail store through online shopping and get the product delivered at home. This makes shopping easier and the retail stores can get the profit they need.

One such collaboration is seen on the application called 'Alibaba' which was started by Jack Ma in 1998. It was started so that the Chinese S&B's and wholesalers could get clients online. The company is best known for its online marketplace(Alibaba.com, 2018). It has digitized all commerce together in the application and has opened its own store named Hema. The store is expanding rapidly throughout China. Customers can go to the store and then use the Hema mobile app to scan the barcode provided in front of all products to get information about the product. The store also sends delivery to the customer's doorstep. The store doubles itself as a distribution Centre. The customers who live within the 3-kilometre radius can get their groceries within 30 seconds. Customers pay through their online accounts. The store has also introduced its own robot who can serve food to the customer. Buying cars has also become easy because of this app. Through this application, people can choose a car online and then buy it according to their preference (Duarte et al.,2018). The virtual shelf in the store makes it easy for the customers to choose products that are not available at the store at that time.

Alibaba has made it clear to the people that online and ‘high street store’ shopping can exist together.

2. Discuss 5 'New' technologies of the future and their associated advantages and disadvantages
Beacon- the beacon is a new age technology that uses low-energy Bluetooth to send signals to other smaller devices. It is a wireless transmitter which has been one of the latest developments in location technology and proximity marketing. Each Beacon device contains a CPU, radio and batteries that works by broadcasting out an identifier repeatedly. It enables the smartphone of the customer to recognize the Unique ID number(Shendeet al., 2017). Once it is connected it does everything it was designed to do.

The advantages of the beacon are that it can provide the customer with a lot of useful data. They provide information about the offers of brands.

The disadvantage is that it is very hard to handle. There are lots of variables that have to be handled. Another disadvantage is that it is dependent on other applications.

Facial recognition- it is a way in which the human face can be recognised using technology. It uses biometrics to identify facial features. It usually compares the information with the database to find the right match. The supermarkets are paving their path to bring it to use. It will be used to recognize a customer's needs and wants. With the help of facial recognition, the workers will know from before what kind of clothes the customer prefers and what mood they are in(Lifelong Learners, 2017).

The advantages of facial recognition are that it can reduce shopping hours. With the customer's face tied to payment information, they can simply buy their products and valid their purchase.

The disadvantage is that there will be a breach of privacy. A change in one's appearance can create an error in the system.

Robot assistant- the newest technology in the shopping industry is a robot assistant. The introduction of retail robots worldwide reveals a lot about technology and culture. Retail robots help customers with any problems they have (Caselli, and Manning, 2019). They tell them where the product they need is or fetch the product themselves. There are supermarkets where robots can check product details and keep inventory. The robots can travel around the store and help customers. The robots can identify an individual through facial recognition and personalize offers for them based on their purchase history.

The advantage of having a robot in a supermarket is that it can make the work of people easy. They have the ability to multitask and make work a lot easier for people. The disadvantage is that they cannot handle unexpected situations. They cannot improve their job outside the pre-defined programming.

Smart mirrors- the smart mirror is the combination of a mirror and a video camera. The smart mirror takes a video and then displays the video in a way that they can try on different combinations. They can even help the customer see how they look in different outfits without even changing(Lifelong Learners, 2017).

The advantage of smart mirrors is that the customer does not have to change to see how they look in an outfit

The disadvantage is that it affects the eye lens of the customer.
The oak fitting room- this is similar to the smart mirrors. There are smart mirrors in the fitting room which can give information to the customer. They can show the customer if there are more sizes available for a particular product or other colors are available.
The advantage is that the customer can get all the information about every product in the fitting room itself.

The disadvantage is that the person who goes inside the fitting room may take a lot of time which would create problems for the other customers.

3. Illustrate the way Supermarket of the future would look like
With the increasing online shopping and new technology future supermarkets are going to be a lot more convenient. The supermarkets will have an innovative, customer-oriented shopping experience. It is well established that the retail store will contain click and collect areas via a drive-through. The pharmacy will be located near the click and collect area(Carstens, 2019). There will be a big fresh and modern market. The strip mall will be easy to navigate and will lead to the main mall. The grab and go area will rationalize products for the customer. The supermarket will have all the new technology gadgets and will have robots to attend the customers. Both the pre-packed meals and eat in option will be available. Tabs will be present for customers to search for offers and promotions. Lastly, the store will have a drive-through for smaller items and loading docks for larger items(Symphony RetailAI, 2018).

The supermarket will not contain places that are congested. They will not contain check-out counters like before.

Reference List
Alibaba.com 2018. Alibaba’s “New Retail” Explained. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=336YkwayCD4 [Accessed on 04.11.2020]

Carstens, A., 2019. The future of money and payments. Speech held in Dublin, 22.

Caselli, F. and Manning, A., 2019. Robot arithmetic: new technology and wages. American Economic Review: Insights, 1(1), pp.1-12.

Duarte, P., e Silva, S.C. and Ferreira, M.B., 2018. How convenient is it? Delivering online shopping convenience to enhance customer satisfaction and encourage e-WOM. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 44, pp.161-169.

Lifelong Learners 2017. Retail 2020: 5 Technologies that will change the way you shop. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRvaWHk3A8k [Accessed on 04.11.2020]

Shende, P., Mehendarge, S., Chougule, S., Kulkarni, P. and Hatwar, U., 2017, April. Innovative ideas to improve shopping mall experience over E-commerce websites using beacon technology and data mining algorithms. In 2017 International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies (ICCPCT) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

Symphony RetailAI 2018. Retail Stores of the Future: Supermarket 2020. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Ezl-_jhzU [Accessed on 04.11.2020] Zhang, Y., Trusov, M., Stephen, A.T. and Jamal, Z., 2017. Online shopping and social media: friends or foes? Journal of Marketing, 81(6), pp.24-41. ?

Bibliography
Alibaba.com 2018. Alibaba’s “New Retail” Explained. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=336YkwayCD4 [Accessed on 04.11.2020]

Carstens, A., 2019. The future of money and payments. Speech held in Dublin, 22.

Caselli, F. and Manning, A., 2019. Robot arithmetic: new technology and wages. American Economic Review: Insights, 1(1), pp.1-12.

Frantsiyants, K., 2019. Online Shopping: The Influence of the Internet on the Transformation of Consumers’ Buying Habits and Experiences (Doctoral dissertation, Empire State College).

Lifelong Learners 2017. Retail 2020: 5 Technologies that will change the way you shop. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRvaWHk3A8k [Accessed on 04.11.2020] Parlangeli, O., Guidi, S., Marchigiani, E., Liston, P.M. and Zucchiatti, A., 2019, September.

Shopping online and online design: the role of prospective memory in the use of online product configurators. In Proceedings of the 13th Biannual Conference of the Italian SIGCHI Chapter: Designing the next interaction (pp. 1-7).

Symphony RetailAI 2018. Retail Stores of the Future: Supermarket 2020. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Ezl-_jhzU [Accessed on 04.11.2020] Thumas, B., 2019. Technologies and trends shaping supermarkets of the future: tect talk. South African Food Review, 46(1), pp.12-14.

Wessel, M., Thies, F. and Benlian, A., 2016. The emergence and effects of fake social information: Evidence from crowdfunding. Decision Support Systems, 90, pp.75-85.

Zhang, Y., Trusov, M., Stephen, A.T. and Jamal, Z., 2017. Online shopping and social media: friends or foes? Journal of Marketing, 81(6), pp.24-41.

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