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ICT and e-Business Impact in the Retail Industry - empirica

ICT and e-Business Impact in the Retail Industry - empirica

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e-<strong>Bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Retail</strong> Sector5.4.3 <strong>Impact</strong>The proper exploration of <strong>the</strong> CRM system’s capabilities led to a number of changes on<strong>the</strong> work<strong>in</strong>g habits of <strong>the</strong> AMJG staff, such as <strong>the</strong> requirement to <strong>in</strong>sert <strong>and</strong> classify alldata ga<strong>the</strong>red about a client. Its <strong>in</strong>troduction significantly improved <strong>the</strong> effectiveness ofrelations with company clients by allow<strong>in</strong>g an easier plann<strong>in</strong>g of visits to <strong>the</strong>m, stor<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong> analys<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation about <strong>the</strong>ir needs, <strong>and</strong> preparation of better orientedproposals. This <strong>in</strong> turn led to changes <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> company’s organisation, as <strong>the</strong> lesser needto consult o<strong>the</strong>r sources of <strong>in</strong>formation led to quicker response time, as well as greatermobility due to <strong>the</strong> Web nature of <strong>the</strong> system allow<strong>in</strong>g it to be consulted from anywhere.As <strong>the</strong> tool matured <strong>and</strong> its use spread to all AMJG employees <strong>the</strong> efficiency of <strong>the</strong> clientmanagement process <strong>in</strong>creased. Some of <strong>the</strong> areas directly affected were:Company sales: sales for companies are up an estimated 6.4% s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> toolstarted work<strong>in</strong>g; while it is difficult to assert how much of this was a consequence ofus<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> tool, AMJG sales staff claimed it was <strong>the</strong> result of <strong>the</strong> better target<strong>in</strong>g ofpotential clients brought about by <strong>the</strong> tool’s crossover <strong>and</strong> analysis features;Work organisation: <strong>the</strong> greater efficiency of <strong>the</strong> new tool allowed to more quicklyprocess client <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> prepare market<strong>in</strong>g campaigns, allow<strong>in</strong>g salesmen tospend less time on <strong>the</strong> office; this has led to a restructur<strong>in</strong>g of job assignmentswhere salesmen now dedicate a larger share of <strong>the</strong>ir time to market<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>companies;Sales Staff: allows for a faster plann<strong>in</strong>g of visits <strong>and</strong> update on <strong>the</strong> status of clientcompanies, <strong>the</strong> quick spread of <strong>in</strong>formation on new products, <strong>and</strong> promotesexchange of <strong>in</strong>formation among its members, by cross<strong>in</strong>g over <strong>in</strong>formation fromseveral sources to identify potential new customers, mak<strong>in</strong>g possible <strong>in</strong>stant accessto updated product <strong>in</strong>formation, <strong>and</strong> set up of warn<strong>in</strong>g flags to o<strong>the</strong>r tool users totake notice on specific subjects.<strong>Bus<strong>in</strong>ess</strong> relationships with customers: <strong>in</strong>dividual clients now get better targetedmarket<strong>in</strong>g campaigns as a result of <strong>the</strong> tool’s new analysis features; while it isdifficult to know how much is a consequence of adopt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> tool, sales to <strong>in</strong>dividualclients <strong>in</strong>creased 12.8% s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> tool was <strong>in</strong>stalled;Inventory management <strong>and</strong> logistics: <strong>the</strong> tool allowed for <strong>in</strong>creased speed <strong>in</strong>placement of orders to TMN <strong>and</strong> between AMJG stores; delays <strong>in</strong> delivery ofproducts decreased by an estimated 1/4 to 1/5.The CRM tool’s features make it useful not only to AMJG <strong>and</strong> its employees, it also isbeneficial for TMN <strong>and</strong> gives more options to AMJG clients. TMN now receives ordersfrom AMJG’s sales staff more quickly than with <strong>the</strong> previous methods (fax, or an uploadat <strong>the</strong> end of each day of an Excel file conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> list of product orders). TMN <strong>in</strong> turncan send <strong>in</strong>formation on its products to AMJG faster (<strong>the</strong> previous method consisted ofan once-a-day file download). The CRM tool will also recognize certa<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation tagswhen TMN sends its product <strong>in</strong>formation, which enables <strong>the</strong> latter to set warn<strong>in</strong>g flags onspecific items if it so wishes. Clients on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, now have <strong>the</strong> option toautomatically receive e-mails with <strong>in</strong>formation on desired products. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, clientscan receive targeted e-mails with product offers based on <strong>the</strong>ir purchas<strong>in</strong>g habits, <strong>the</strong>mechanism of which is controlled by bus<strong>in</strong>ess rules set up by <strong>the</strong> sales staff.148

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