RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN

RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN

Response to question one

The periods of the recent past has been characterized by the aspects of increased development of the global economies. The development of the economies has been manifested in various formats but the leading aspect of development is the consideration of globalization that has resulted in the attributes of regional integration between various nations. Regional integration and globalization are extremely crucial because they enhance the existence of relationship and conduction of business across geographical borders. In the wake of these realities, crucial aspect of businesses have emerged where business are conducted over the internet. In this regard, internet is revealed as a medium that links various nations and enhances participation and conduction of business between various parties and this is crucial because it leads to the development of the global economies (Clive Humby, 2008). Analysis conducted across the internet has reveled that some global companies have adopted this medium and this includes Amazon, Tesco Direct, Ocado and Sainsbury given that these companies uses the aspect of internet to engage in their activities, the consideration of supply chain management and logistics adopted becomes a crucial aspect that differentiates the four companies (Elli Rabinovich, 2011). Analysis conducted to reveal the performance of these companies has stated that they have continued to develop ideal measurers of undertaking their business incentive. In this aspect of development, ideal illustration is provided as listed below.

Analysis conducted to highlight the operations of Amazon has revealed the organization has been engaged in series of development and innovations aimed enhancing the shopping experience for the customers (Friedman, 2003). This attribute of development has resulted in the development of an application for the smart phones and iPhones because they are crucial in enhancing increases on the profitability in the business. The development of this application has enabled an easier attribute of shopping for the customers.

With the expansion of internet trade, Tesco Direct has initiated the development of a mobile application that enables mobile phone users to access the store. The development of internet retail service is a remarkable step that is aimed at enhancing more sales because the research conducted by the company revealed that their websites received more than 1.5 million hits from the smart phone users and this is ideal for business (Geoffrey Randall, 2011). This incentive led to the development of the mobile app that links mobile users directly with the company online inter-phase.

The consideration of Sainsbury is another online shop whose development has been on the rise and it continued to provide crucial assistance to the public. The development of this online shop has enabled the development of the incentive that has resulted in the consideration of developing mobile phone portal application that has enabled the mobile phone users to interact with eh company (John Joseph Coyle, 2008). The smart-phone and android application has been of immense benefit and it has enhanced crucial development of the incentive. On the same note, Ocado groceries has also been on the verge of experiencing significant advents of development that has resulted in the establishment of new stores to supplement the existing online stores. Because of the attributes of increasing expansion, the aspects of online shops have resorted to the attribute of enhancing development of their shops through the construction of the automated warehouse to offer online back up. Finally, one of the leading aspects that have reflected development in the case of the four companies is the consideration of technological advancement because all the four companies have expanded their market scope by developing mobile phone application to enable mobile phone users to access their business sites (Jesse Russell, 2012). In reality, the establishment has been of immense benefit because it has resulted in the increase in the market scope and it has enhanced increased profitability of the company.

            Response to question two

            Over the period, various online companies have continued to experience growth because of the different aspects of logistics that they have applied in their management and trading capacities. The development and performance of the company is based on the establishment of missions and objectives. In addition, the factors adopted are also influenced and determined by be determination of logistics that are adopted to enhance performance of the organization in the market. In this consideration, Amazon has continued to excel in the aspects of the internet trade because of the attributes of value that is has developed with its customers. Development of value and using the aspect of value to drive growth of the company has been identified as one of the logistics adopted by the company. Other logistical issues associated with the company involve the establishment of free shipment to the buyers and the provision of discounts to the buyers. Similarly, Tesco Direct has adopted the same logistics of ensuring an increase in the home delivery system (Kenneth Karel Boyer, 2005). Analytical results have stated the company has hired a firm to enhance that aspect of conducting the delivery logistics program. Another significant attribute and the leading aspect of logistics for the company are to adopt the launch of the non-food internet direct.

            Over the period, the company has been challenged because of the aspects of temporary employee treatment because critics stated that the temporary workers are underpaid.  Furthermore, Amazon has also been criticized because of the increasingly poor conditions in which the workers are subjected and this initiated significant social reputations and one time called a demonstration of the workers. Certainly, the management and operations of Amazon in Germany has received significant decline because of the disparities facing the organization and this has resulted in the decline in the sales. In this regard, the management of the organization prompted an urgent defensive plan of offering an apology to the market with the aim of enhancing control of the significant share of the market (Elli Rabinovich, 2011). In comparison with the Amazon, Tesco Direct has continued to face significant management problems and this has adversely affected performance of the company. Tesco Direct has been established as the leading online retailers and this has resulted in the usage of innovative measure of enhancing development and some of which includes the consideration of adopting supply chain projects.

            In response to the above challenges, both of the companies have taken the initiative adopting ideal and critical reactions that are almost identical. In view of these challenges, both companies have the problem of losing adequate consumer confidence because of the atrocities. Upon realization of the disparities facing Amazon firms in Germany, they resorted to issue public apology with the aim of gaining pubic confidence and increasing the sales margin of the company. On the hand, Tesco Direct also had the attributes and atrocities that resulted and introduced the new management for the retail stores (John Mangan, 2008). Another remarkable move initiated by the management was to conduct transformation of the existing traditional warehouse operations to cater for the increasing different demands of multi-channel retailing. In a bid to increase the performance of both companies, the companies have initiated the attributes of developing the ideal logistics to enhance the inclusion of skills and expertise to enhance development of both companies.

Analysis of the operations of Ocado has proved that they have significantly adopted the attributes of techn0logy that they have enhanced a full automated ordering and delivery system. The establishment of customer fulfillment centre caters for the consideration of the orders and it therefore responds to the increasing needs of the customer’s through the consideration of special software that optimizes the organizations production and ensures that objectives are fulfilled (Kenneth Karel Boyer, 2005). In this regard, the development of the simulation software, which is a unique system for the organizations logistical breakthrough, that enhances development and consideration of the incentive to enhance growth and development. In order to continue providing quality services to the customers, the logistical teams have ensured the establishment of the unique system that is responsible for the optimization of revenue. The simulation model includes a series of statistical feasibility that is conducted over various projects to enhance their graphical representation and statistical analysis (Kenneth Karel Boyer, 2005). In summary, the leading logistical issues involve improvement of customer experience, product flows, identify customer locations and reduce the distribution costs.

            On the other hand, analysis of the Sainsbury online groceries has revealed that customer satisfaction is the ideal objective of the operation and profit maximization is the mission statement of the organization. Therefore, the organization has ventured in the establishment of ideal and crucial attributes that will involve provision of goods at cheaper costs. The logistical strategies adopted by this organization involve the consideration of providing their commodities at cheaper prices than the supermarkets and this incentive has ensured that they increase their market share.

            The operation of the company is characterized by significant challenges because the establishment in the UK market is faced with significant challenges form the leading company like Tesco Direct sales. In this regard, the establishment of cost effective measures to production has been reduced and the company has been forced to close some of the leading stores in the United Kingdom. The same problems have been faced by Ocado and the challenges further continue to hold performance of the company. Ocado is in the verge of facing the challenge that concerns expansion of the market scope because the measures employed by the company has ensured significant increase in the performance of the company. In this regard, the consideration of advancing technological problems is an ideal aspect of dealing with the challenges of the online companies. Over the period, technological development continues to be felt on daily basis and this consideration poses a challenge to the online shops and dealers because of the possible security threats. Hence there is the need for the enhancement of increased security through the consideration of advancing technology.

Response to question three

Over the period, analysis of the technological development and the resulting emergence of online retail chains have been of immense benefit because it has resulted in the consideration of increasing development and also increasing satisfaction of the consumers. In reality, the development of Business-to-customer (B2C) model of business is extremely beneficial because it enhances the consideration of enhancing distribution since the intermediaries are all omitted in the consideration of the supply chain (Clive Humby, 2008). This venture has the attribute of developing increased satisfaction of the consumers because it results in the increase of customer experience where customers are concerned with the provisions of direct purchases. With the development of the online stores and the establishment of various outlets, the leading logistical problem facing the companies is the aspect of timely delivery. In this regard, it is extremely crucial for the establishments to consider the employing some of the leading aspects towards the realization of reducing the time taken for the goods to reach their destination upon receiving of the orders. The concept of enhancing this consideration will be crucial in enhancing increase in the sales margin. Another logistical attribute that the online chain stores have continued to experience is the consideration of cost effectively (Jesse Russell, 2012). Establishment of cost benefit analysis of the leading companies like Ocado and Sainsbury has revealed that the retail shops are not efficient in their consideration and this has raised significant concerns about the existing attributes of measures employed to attain the targets of the organization. the surveys conducted about the operations of the market has shown  that online market has captured only 8% of the retail product market and this calls for further incentive to ensure that the market scope is significantly expanded. N this regard, the logistical departments have the challenge of devising crucial methods that will be responsible for enhancing participation of online purchasing of both food and non-food products.

Response to question four

            The advancement in technology has been immensely beneficial because it has resulted in the development of online businesses. The development of online business is a revolutionary invention that has ensured increase convenience during the shopping and this consideration has further resulted in the establishment of efficiency. Over the period, the increase in the participation of online business has taken toll and the consideration of advancing this attribute has been on the rise. In this realization, marketers from across the global divide have initiated measures to enhance the conduction of online sales (John Joseph Coyle, 2008). Some of the measures that are crucial for enhancing business establishment include the development of social media marketing. The recent past has witnessed emergence of significant usage of the social media and this has prompted the consideration of developing an initiative in the social media because it has the capacity of connecting the business with diverse number of prospective customers (Geoffrey Randall, 2011). In addition, the markets should different campaigns aimed enticing both women and men because studies has revealed that they use the internet differently and an advert should be designed separately to capture their attention.

            Consideration and evaluation of the marketing programs are other ideal incentives of ensuring that the objectives and missions of the business are ideal in moving the business towards realizing its goals. In this incentive, the development of the websites must ensure that the programs are capable of capturing more visitors to the site. Finally, the consideration of the rate of return is another crucial incentive for consideration of ideal marketing strategies because it provides the ground for evaluating the measure employed by the organization. ROI provides ideal objective for evaluating beneficial and detrimental aspects thereby providing a measure for choosing ideal marketing strategies.

References

Clive Humby, T. H. (2008). Scoring Points: . How Tesco Continues to Win Customer Loyalty ,

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Elli Rabinovich, T. M. (2011). Internet Retail Operations:. Integrating Theory and Practice for

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Friedman, M. (2003). Amazon.com. Australia: John Wiley & Sons.

Geoffrey Randall, A. S. (2011). The Grocers: . The Rise and Rise of Supermarket Chains , 161.

Jesse Russell, R. C. (2012). Ocado. Broadway: Book on Demand.

John Joseph Coyle, C. J. (2008). Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective. New

            York: CengageBrain.

John Mangan, C. L. (2008). Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Australia: John

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Kenneth Karel Boyer, M. T. (2005). Extending The Supply Chain: . How Cutting-Edge

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