Channel-serving the Key to a Success - Essay Example

The Text Channel-serving the key to e-success THE digital age has been developing for some time now, but it is the customers expectations that are driving businesses to adapt. This is a permanent change to the way we interact with our customers and we must see digital technologies as an enabler rather than a threat. The question is, where do I ensure my business is relevant and sustainable? In my time at Dymocks the first challenge was to ensure data integrity was as good as it could be. An investment by the business in point of sale and merchandise systems was critical to providing our customers with real-time insight into the product we sell and where it is located. The online store systems, including search, also needed to be efficient. Customers wanted an exceptional user experience. If we didnt provide it, the risk of our loyal customers finding what they wanted elsewhere was growing, due to the increased online competition. At this point we had our main channels to market established and integrated. Those channels were our store network, online store and marketing. It is critically important that these channels and others work together and seamlessly for the customer experience to be compelling. This is the principle of Omni-channel retail, a seamlessly delivered multi-channel model. Digital channels allow you to enhance substantially the customers experience with your brand. No longer do you have to wait for the doors to open in your stores to talk to your customers. They can engage with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But when they do, they want the experience to mirror, as best it can, the in-store experience. Customers want to know what stock you have, is it in stock at their local store and can they pick it up in store? Will loyalty cards work online? Technology helps small business do that. And finally, use technology to enhance the dialogue with your customers every day. Use it to show you understand what is important to them. Loyalty programs coupled with social media provide the perfect places to discuss your products and services and bring them even closer to your brand. Source: Grover, D. (2012). Channel-serving the key to e-success, The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012 from http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/smallbiz-tech/channelserving-the-key-to-esuccess-20120415-1x1iy.html Text Analysis The text to be analysed in this paper touches on my favourite topic on how organisations adapt to changing business environment with its topic of discussion on channel-serving as key to success in e-business. In this article appearing on The Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian daily newspaper, Grover (2012) appreciates the role of digital channels in enhancing sustainability of customer’s experience in the digital era where the driving force for adaptation of various strategies by organisations has been its customers’ expectations. The former Dymocks’ chief executive educates operators of small businesses how they would benefit from integrating new technological capabilities in their business operations in the 359-word article. Various grammatical characteristics have been used in the excerpt for various reasons. The writer uses nominalisation which Collins and Hollo (2010) argue is a technique used in formal writing. Nominalisation basically involves changing a word into a noun or converting a noun into a phrase while maintaining the meaning of the sentence. In this extract, Grover (2012) changes invest, which is a verb into investment as in “An investment by the business in point of sale...” The writer is keen to emphasize on digital channels as the source of success for e-business through use of active voice such as in “Digital channels allow you to enhance substantially the customers experience with your brand.” The emphasis here is on digital channels as the subject. Though passive voice would be used in most formal writings according to Collins and Hollo (2010), active voice has been used in this article to emphasize on the agent for the desired change. With the passive voice emphasizing on the recipient of an action, in this case the audience, the intended impact would be achieved differently if used in this context. Affirmative sentences as discussed by Swan (2005) have been used in the excerpt to emphasize on the importance of the digital channels as in “Those channels were our store, network, online store and marketing.” The writer’s expertise in writing persuasive articles is exhibited when he uses negative sentences alongside the affirmative ones to bring out the contrast vividly. By noting that “If we didn’t provide it, the risk of our loyal customers finding what they wanted elsewhere was growing...” is a negative sentence aimed at convincing the audience that without the digital channels, then they would lose their customers. Grover’s use of tense serves as a grammatical characteristic that portrays the continuity of change in technology in the market. “The digital age has been developing...” is a continuous participle sentence that seeks to educate the reader of the continuing change in the digital environment. Note the writer’s use of present tense to indicate urgency when asking “where do I ensure my business is relevant and sustainable?” This communicates to the reader the need to adopt the technology immediately. To convince the target audience of the content in the article, the writer uses past tense to affirm the positive experience with the technology in the past. For example, “Those channels were our store network, online store and marketing.” Though used minimally, there are other grammar characteristics that have been effectively used. The writer makes use of nouns in describing places for example when describing a place in “In my time at Dymocks the first challenge was to ensure data integrity was as good as it could be.” Pronouns also help the writer to avoid repetition and have been used in place of nouns as argued by Leech, Deuchar and Hoogenraad (2005) where the subject is obvious for example in “They can engage with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week” when referring to digital channels previously introduced. Swan (2005) argues that without a verb, then there would be no sentence. Verbs tell of an action such as “The digital age has been developing for some time now, but it is the customers expectations that are driving businesses to adapt.” Altenberg and Vago (2010) introduce a special verb referred to as verb referred to as copula for example in “It is critically important...” This differs from action verb such as “Digital channels allow you to enhance substantially the customers experience with your brand” though both are action words. Finally, the writer uses sentence combining skills as in “The digital age has been developing for some time now, but it is the customers expectations that are driving businesses to adapt” where “but” has been used to combine two sentences argumentatively. One would quickly point out at the seriousness of the article based on the credentials of the writer, who previously headed Dymocks and is set to join Fusion Retail at the same capacity. In addition, the content of the discussion is economic aimed at explaining the importance of adapting the digital technology in business. Business and technological terminology further emphasizes on the formality of the language of the article “This is the principle of Omni-channel retail, a seamlessly delivered multi-channel model.” Purpura (2004) points out at use of vocabulary as an indication of formal writing. With the small business operators being the audience, the writer uses formal language throughout the article with some few questions aimed at maintaining the audience’s attention such as “Will loyalty cards work online?” It also contains some personal tenor expressed using active clauses to portray to the reader the writer’s experience in the business. An example includes “At this point we had our main channels to market established and integrated.” The topic of this article is in syntax of abbreviation, “channel-serving the key to e-success” that Leech, Deuchar and Hoogenraad (2005) refer to as “headlinese” where rules of forming complete sentences would be broken. References Altenberg, E. P. & Vago, R. M. (2010). English Grammar: Understanding the Basics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Collins, P. & Hollo, C. (2010). English Grammar: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Grover, D. (2012). Channel-serving the key to e-success, The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012 from http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/smallbiz -tech/channelserving-the-key-to-esuccess-20120415-1x1iy.html Leech, G., Deuchar, M. & Hoogenraad, R. (2005). English Grammar for Today: A New Introduction. 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillan. Purpura, J. E. (2004). Assessing Grammar. Cambridge University Press. Swan, M. (2005). Practical English Usage. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More