Describe about the Mobile Business Technologies?
The retailers need to access the multi- channel behavior of shopping so that the shifting and ever evolving needs and expectations of the customers are met (Bondari, 2010). The shoppers of today’s world are equipped with tablets, smart phones and have access to the internet. People have the chance of accessing internet from various places like their homes, on the road, at offices or at work places (Lee, 2010). This opportunity has made possible the fact that it has helped the retailers to give a shopping experience to the people anytime and anywhere.
The speed with which the internet technology is developing is very fast. The rising uses of the mobile technologies like tablets and smartphones have greatly impacted the consumer behavior as well as the retail business largely. Mobile digital technological services have helped to provide ads, new services and offers (Prepletaný, 2015). It also engages the customers in shopping online. Apart from the various services the online retail services provide on the mobiles and tablets, there are certain other services that the mobile technology services provide; those are the blogs and the social media pages. The customers of today are not only customers who buy the product but also market and advertise the products by sharing their views on the blogs and the social media pages (Nacif, 2003). The customers check the products and review the product on the sites of social media and also on the official websites of the retailers.
The tesco.com is an e-commerce website as well as an online shopping portal. The website provides a wide range of products like groceries, books, electronic products and other financial services. The retail chain has started its online shopping in the year 1997 which was named as ‘Tesco Direct’ (Barnes, 2011). Later in the year 2000 it opened its web portal tesco.com. In 2007 it became the first company home deliver goods in UK. It also first took the initiative of delivering goods in green boxes in order to reduce the use of plastic carry bags. In the year 2009, Tesco was the first company to provide an API which paved way for the smartphone users. Tesco has recently revealed that it made £127 million profit in trade in the United Kingdom
Tesco is one of the largest retail chains in the world with over 500,000 employees. The company serves millions of people in a weak at their stores. They retail chain operates in 12 countries. the technology innovation is done to provide the customers an experience of the location of the store, as well as the supply chain of the store. Moreover it also provides the customer with a real time availability of the products in the store that can be ordered online. The company is currently running a pilot project in which there is a three shelf activities which includes customer and product information, price management and stock management (Smith, 2012). With the wireless technology operated through the tablets and smartphones the company feels that they are always with the people and they serve the people better with this new shopping venture.
The customers of Tesco have become so familiar with the shopping channels of the company that people now enjoy the experience and expect good products and at fair prices (Corina, 1971). They also look for easy availability and delivery which is convenient for them. The company has several ‘click and collect’ points where the customer can collect their orders made from their home. This gives them a opportunity to browse through a wide range of products and order that is needed from a local Tesco store at their convenience (Tesco and Morrisons school report, 2014). The company also provides a new experience that contains the ingredients of various recipes in one catalogue which the people can order online and add to their basket if they wish to make those products. Moreover the large Tesco stores have the services of Wi-Fi in their stores which allows the customers to browse on their mobiles and compare the prices of the products while they shop. This new system is called ‘scan as you shop’ (Stahlberg and Maila, 2010). This system has become very popular with the people after its launch.
The mobile technology has enabled the company to personalize their approach (Tesco.com, 2015). The company is able to understand the needs and wants of the customers and how they shop. Moreover they come to know about their tastes and preferences, their habits and buying behavior.
Digital promotions
The use of the social media sites is a way to promote the products. By this way the company can advertise their products and the share their great shopping experiences on the blogs and social media sites. More over the company can provide information to the customers who are on the move and help them know about the latest offers, prices and discounts.
The people often make their purchase decision by consulting their friends and families and reviewing the products on various sites and checking their prices. So the company offers a service on the mobile by which they can browse the products and the competitive prices. The customers can also make orders inside the store by browsing the website in their mobiles and tablets and collect it from the counters and don’t need to browse through the aisles. The retail chain also provides the customers with points who shop through the online pages and can later redeem the points to purchase other products (Tesco.com, 2015). The customer feels this to be interesting as they can often get discounts and gifts, and it also saves their time.
Mobile point of sales is just a new concept based on the physical point of sales. It enables the retailers to take the data of sales at the point where a sale is made (Sansom, 2000). The store assistants are provided with mobile POS so that they can serve the customers without the customer waiting in the line to solve their queries. It provides the customers a time saving opportunity against the cash register counters.
The mobile digital services through the smartphones have become a good option for the customers to make their payments. By this way the customers need not visit the stores physically. The sale of products over the mobile technology is expected to rise over the next few years as also the payment over the mobile will also rise. Moreover the payment can also be made via credit card and debit cards through the mobiles and tablets. These digital wallets are portable since they are online.
The use of mobile technology has enabled the customers to get a personal assistant while shopping online who will accompany and guide the customer in the decision making. The electronic price tags provided by the company enable the customer to better understand the price of the products.
There are various ways of developing an app for the company. Native approach: they are written in native languages and primarily for the individual operating systems like android, Windows and iOS. Mobile Web: it uses the technology of HTML5. It is designed to run on mobile sizes screen and thus it can be opened with many mobile browsers. Hybrid application: it is a type of browser which uses HTML, JavaScript and CSS for developing their apps. It is a platform which can work on all devices be it mobiles, computers or tablets (Msdn.microsoft.com, 2015).
The company has strived in making the pages on the site validate to W3C formal grammar (HTML 5 and XHTML Strict). The company Tesco has no mobile or tablet app for home and furniture products. The feature is only available to their desktop sites. The cost for introducing an app for the home and furniture would be around $500,000 which includes the design, features, infrastructure, and administration, testing and planning.
A good app should be helpful in reducing the problems of the people. The graphics should be clear and give a clear view of the product from all directions. The app should contain the list of the products on the home page.
The most important thing that the app will provide is the ease of use for the customer. The customers will not use the app if they find the app to be very complicated or the images do not show properly. The company must keep in mind that the app should be an easy one since it is mobile based. Moreover the app should continuously be updated to include new products and prices along with the various offers and promotions. The company should evaluate themselves from the ratings they get on Facebook, Twitter etc.
Conclusion
Mobile digital technological services have helped to provide ads, new services and offers (Prepletaný, 2015). It also engages the customers in shopping online. The payment can also b e made via credit card and debit cards through the mobiles and tablets. It is seen that the company Tesco has no mobile or tablet app for home and furniture products. The feature is only available to their desktop sites. It will be beneficial for the company as well as the people it the app is introduced with the features like Products, ‘My profile’, ‘Share’, ‘Customer support’, so that the people are able to view the product, share their comments and can purchase the products while they are on the move or not in front of the desktop. Moreover it can reduce their problems of going to the store.
References
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Sansom, P. (2000). Point of sale. Manchester: Carcanet.
Smith, C. (2012). Tesco CIO: personalisation is the next big thing for retail technology. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2012/nov/07/tesco-retail-personalisation-technology [Accessed 23 Feb. 2015].
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