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

e-Business in the Retail SectorExhibit 5.8-1: Checkout procedure of the e-sales applicationSource:e-business Watch 2007/2008Online shoppers must always allow 24 hours for deliveries; which are available to allareas in Malta, excluding Gozo and Comino. Delivery times are agreed telephonicallybetween the delivery people and the customer on a day to day basis based on Smart’sdelivery schedule, which can be accessed online. The delivery schedule has been basedaccording to which zone of the island a locality resides in order to ensure efficient andeconomical deliveries. However, customers will be given the option to indicate a preferredday and time on checkout. When orders are submitted online, through a personal username and password, authorized personnel responsible for online shopping service willaccess the shopping lists sent by online customers. These personnel will then shopalongside in-store customers to fulfil the online orders on the part of the customers andonce ready the order will be in for delivery.A comprehensive online help section is also found in the website and this includes manyFrequently Asked Questions. Besides, registered users receive special offers via email,as well as information of all that is currently happening at the supermarket. Online formsare also available for those customers requiring further assistance.Smart’s management and board of directors are planning to invest circa Lm10,000(€23,294) on marketing activities in the next three years. They in fact intend to enhancethe use of the fields entered by online customers while registering in the e-commercesolution, so as to use customer information for targeted marketing and personalizedpromotions. Currently, only generalised marketing is being used and this mainly involvesspecial offers sent to registered customers via email and giving out small gifts (such as abox of chocolates) with online orders during festive seasons; which is thought to be less171