Implemented Workplace Technology in TESCO Company - Essay Example

? Impact Technology: A Report on Evaluation Project into an Implemented Workplace Technology in TESCO Company Name Data Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Initial Proposal 3 Background Information 3 Rationale 4 Feasibility Study Plan and Results 5 i.Description of the Project 5 ii.Market Feasibility 5 iii.Technical Feasibility 6 iv.Financial Feasibility 6 v.Organizational Feasibility 6 Methodology 7 Findings 9 Conclusion and Recommendations 10 Reference List 11 Appendix 12 Questionnaire 12 Interview sheet 13 Initial Proposal Technology has changed the lives of people across the world; how they communicate, live, and conduct business. Public sector organization and the private companies have also embraced technology in a great way so as to gain from the benefits brought about by technology such as improved productivity and efficiency. This report will evaluate the impact of new technology in TESCO Company (UK). Background Information TESCO Company is a general merchandise and grocery retailer that has global interest. It is a public limited company established in 1919 and is headquartered in Cheshunt in the United Kingdom. According to the latest statistics, TESCO is ranked as the world’s third- largest retailer after Wal- Mart and Carrefour in terms of revenues. Generally, the company deals with telecoms products and services, financial services, consumer goods, and groceries (Alexander et al, 2005, p. 808). In order for the company to maintain and improve its performance particularly in dealing with increased product and service volume while at the same time controlling costs, it has embraced technological innovation that has had great impacts on the company. Recently, Tesco made a technological innovation known as Augmented Reality (AR) and QR codes that enables the consumers to use computer terminals to scan a product code. The technology allows the consumers to view the 3D images of over 40 products from the entertainment and electronics sections both online and in store thus enabling them to make a decision on whether to have the product delivered to their home or to buy in- store (Shayon 2011, p. 1). Tesco Direct Catalogue requires a marker and a browser plug-in; in order to view the images of the 3D product, the consumer position catalogues in front of their webcam. In addition, the technology can use a television set whereby the set can be expanded virtually to back views, front, and real front so that shoppers can watch film and also play with virtual games that are on sale in the supermarket (Shayon 2011, p. 1). Rationale It is an undisputed fact that indeed competition has been very stiff among the retailers across the world; each retailer chain is struggling to stay afloat in the market. To achieve this, they look for ways that will boost their sales and minimize costs so as to eventually maximize profits. TESCO is no exception and it has made huge strides towards this end especially in regard to using technological innovation. The main rationale behind the innovation was definitely to boost sales in the long run. Apart from that the technology intended to achieve other goals. First, it intended to integrate augmented reality into the consumers’ everyday shopping experiences. Secondly, the strategy was designed to minimize the use of the in- store space to stock number of returns and products since through the innovation, the consumers will already have information regarding what they want to purchase. Thirdly, it is a way of attracting more customers which will eventually translate to selling of more merchandise. According to Hristov and Reynolds (2010, p. 29), some products do not mean much to the consumers until they actually use them. They further argue that there is less likelihood for a consumer to buy a product that they have not actually used or seen, therefore, the consumers will be keen to anything that brings these products to life. At the moment, the retailer’s seven stores have augmented reality (AR) terminals in five electronics section and entertainment sections. The technological innovation is based on the company’s policy of being on the innovation and technology forefront. The TESCO CEO, Phillip Clarke, during the launch of the product noted the following; that the technology has not only transformed the retail industry but also the lives of the consumers (Shayon, 2011, p. 1). Currently, TESCO ranks as the world’s third- largest retailer by revenues and the second largest by profits after Wal- Mart. It is expected that with this kind of technological innovation, the retailer’s pecking order both in terms of profits and revenues will improve (Jones, 2008, p. 62). Feasibility Study Plan and Results Feasibility plan was critical in providing the evaluation project with ways of identifying the opportunities and problems associated with the innovation, describing situations, assessing the range of benefits and costs, and defining successful outcomes. The feasibility plan outlined the following: description of the project, market feasibility, technical feasibility, financial feasibility, and organizational feasibility. The feasibility outline yielded various results as they relate to TESCO’s technological innovation. i. Description of the Project Augmented Reality (AR) and QR codes technology by TESCO enables the consumers to use computer terminals to scan product code. The innovation was found to increase revenues for the company by increasing sales. Currently, the technology is in seven Tesco stores in the UK. The company intends to roll out the technology to other of its stores across the world and to cover more products. ii. Market Feasibility The company’s market share prior to the launch of the innovation stood at 30% in the UK for all its products and services namely telecoms products, financial services, consumer goods, and groceries. Market feasibility estimated that the innovation will increase sales by 4% for the company from the stores already with the technology and by 12% after the technology has been rolled out to all the company’s stores. Retail industry is very dynamic as it often has different segments of consumers in terms of age, socioeconomic status, gender, and culture. Besides, it is going through rapid technological change (Jones, 2008, 48). This makes it very competitive industry; Tesco major competitors are Wal- Mart and Carrefour. That notwithstanding though, the industry has a great market potential that Tesco is aiming to capitalize on. The technology was seen to give Tesco a competitive edge against its competitors as it changes the shopping experience of consumers which has a high possibility of increasing the company sales. The technology will attract mostly the younger segment of the market which is interested on latest electronics and entertainment products. It is from these assumptions that the aforementioned sales projections were based on. iii. Technical Feasibility The technology requires a marker (Tesco catalogue) and a browser plug-in to enable consumers view 3D product images by positioning catalogues in front of their webcam. The technology is powered by Kishino, AR firm. Since the AR technology has been proven, it is reliable and provides the necessary technology competitiveness. However, the technology is faced with the limitation of cost; it is expensive to set up this technology (Hristov and Reynolds, 2010, p. 79). This explains the reason why Tesco has not rolled out to all its stores yet. iv. Financial Feasibility The estimated cost of setting up an AR technology for a large store such as Tesco was pegged at $150000. In addition, there are other costs such as labour costs that were factored in at an estimated cost of $30000 paid to the consultants. After the setting up, the technology will be used for a long time with hence leading to greater returns to the company through increased sales. v. Organizational Feasibility The innovation was not found to have any impact on the organizational structure of the company. The current technology and operations manager is well skilled and experienced to oversee the implementation of the project. AR firm, Kishino will act as the consultants and service provider in order to facilitate the setting up of the technology in other stores, so, there was no need to restructure the company’s management. Methodology Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used to evaluate the innovative application of Augmented and QR Code technology within the Tesco Company. According to Dobrovolny and Fuentes (2008, p. 7), quantitative methods of evaluating a program are used to produce statistical information which includes numerical data for analysis. On the other hand, the qualitative method is applicable in evaluation of programs or projects to capture descriptive information which is used to assess a program in accordance to specific criteria. The purpose for evaluation of a specific program in addition to the availability of resources for the assessment determines the method selected as explained by Elliot and Melhuish (1995, p. 87). The aim of this project is to evaluate the impact of the Augmented and QR Code technology as adopted and implemented within Tesco Company. Both the qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used in order to effectively and efficiently determine the accomplishments of the project as a basis for assessing its impact on the business activities and financial success of the retail chain. The quantitative method was used to produce numerical data which is used to answer the how and why specific impacts have been experienced as a result of the application of the technology in the retail chain. The techniques used to gather quantitative data during the course of the project included questionnaires and documentary sources within the existing statistical databases in the financial records of the company. Questionnaires were used as a tool of collecting quantitative data because they are more objective in addition to being a way of collecting information quickly and efficiently hence they safe time Elliot and Melhuish (1995, p. 92). Documentary sources provided authentic or credible statistical data on the financial progress and customer data of the company. The documentary sources were preferred because they provide readily available data which saves the time of the researcher as explained by Dobrovolny and Fuentes (2008, p. 9). Qualitative methods were very appropriate in answering the what, who and when aspects of the impact of innovative technology on the general business processes and success of Tesco Company. Interviews were used as a technique of collecting qualitative data during the course of the project. The choice of questionnaires for the project was motivated by the fact that they have an advantage of causing a higher rate of response. Additionally, interviews are effective in doing an evaluative study because the interviewer has a chance of probing further into the responses of the interviewees in order to collect more detailed information Elliot and Melhuish (1995, p. 87). Random sampling technique was used in the selection of the respondents for the evaluation project. This method was the most appropriate approach in choosing the subjects of the evaluation project because it has no bias because each of the respondents has an equal chance of being selected for the study. The customers of Tesco Company were selected for the study and self administered questionnaires were issued to the randomly selected subjects. The interviews were conducted on the random sample to determine their views on the technological innovation of the company so that they would be the basis for the evaluation of the impacts of the technology. Ten respondents were randomly selected at Tesco Retail Shop into whom questionnaires were administered. A brief explanation was given to the selected respondents about the objectives of the evaluation project so that their consent was obtained before the questionnaires were issued. The questionnaires comprised of four questions which were designed to answer the objectives of the project and were collected from the respondents immediately after they were filled. Purposive sampling technique was used to select two key staff members within the sales and marketing department for the interview. The project was conducted in a span of six weeks with the various activities being represented by the project schedule in the Gnatt Chart below. Activities/Weeks Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Initial Preparation Obtaining Consent Data Collection Data Analysis Preparation of the Project Report Presentation of The Project Findings Out of the ten respondents nine of them were aware were aware of the Augmented and QR Code innovative technology which was adopted by Tesco Retail Chain. This is attributed to the multichannel marketing initiative which was undertaken by the company throughout the company that involved more than eight thousand promotional billboards as explained by Shayon (2011). AWARENESS AND USE OF THE TECHNOLOGY AWARE NOT AWARE USED NOT USED No. of Respondents 9 1 8 2 Percentage (%) 90% 10% 80% 20% Table 1: Customer awareness and use of the technology The respondents who considered the innovative technology to be appropriate justified their argument by saying that it improved their shopping experiences within the stores. Additionally, the technology has reduced the number of returns of goods back to the shelves because customers have prior knowledge of the goods and the price details as illustrated by Shayon (2011). Eight of the ten respondents said that the technology has influenced them to purchase more goods within the retail stores than before. From the interviews conducted on the sales and marketing staff, both of the interviewees said that the sales of Tesco Retailer have increased since the implementation of the Augmented and QR Code technology. This was supported by documentary sources from the financial records of the company which indicated a 10% increase in sales of goods and services in the company’s retail stores. Figure 1: Impact of the Technology on the Purchases Conclusion and Recommendations The adoption and implementation of the Augmented and QR Code technology by Tesco Company has led to a 10% of its sales. This is attributed to the advantages of the technology in facilitating the shopping process and the improvement of the buying experience of the customers. 90% of Tesco Retail Chain customers are aware of the innovative technology which would justify the fact that 80% of these customers use it during the shopping process. The innovative technology therefore has led to a positive impact on the business. The increase in sales means that the technology has led to an increase in the customer base of the company. Additionally, the positive impact of the technology illustrates that the technology is feasible and is meeting its objectives. Therefore, Tesco Company should embrace the use of the technology in its business function and create more marketing initiatives so that more consumers are aware of the technology. Moreover, demonstration on the use of the technology during the shopping process should be conducted to ensure that all the customers who are aware of the technology apply it so that their shopping experience is enhanced or improved. Reference List Alexander, A et al, 2005, “Promoting Retail Innovation: Knowledge Flows during the Emergence of Self-service and Supermarket Retailing in Britain”, Environment and Planning A, 37: 805-821. Dobrovolny, J.L. and Fuentes, S.C.G. 2008, "Quantitative Versus Qualitative Evaluation: a Tool to Decide which to use", Performance Improvement, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 7-14. Elliot, S. and Melhuish, P. 1995, "A methodology for the evaluation of IT for strategic implementation", Journal of Information Technology, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 87-100. Hristov, L and Reynolds, J, 2010, Innovation in the UK Retail Sector, London: NESTA. Jones, A, 2008, The Innovation Acid Test: Growth through Design and Differentiation, Axminster: Triarchy Press. Shayon, S, 2011, Tesco Pushes Retail Innovation with Augmented Reality, Available: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/Tesco-Augmented-Reality-112211.aspx (Accessed: 13 January, 2012). Appendix Questionnaire 1. Are you aware of the Augmented and QR Code innovative technology that was implemented by Tesco Retailer? YES NO 2. Have you used the innovative technology in the purchasing goods and services from the company? 3. YES NO 4. Do you consider the Augmented and QR Code technology appropriate? Why? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5. Has the technology influenced you to purchase more goods from the Tesco stores than before? YES NO Interview sheet What prompted you to come up with the Augmented and QR Code technology? What are the impacts of the implementation of the technology on the business functions of Tesco Retailer? Has the innovative technology met its objectives? Read More