Evaluate the Role and Benefit of Self-Service Technology to Service Retailers

Application development: Having a real-time electronic interface with wholesalers created competitive advantages such as reducing cost.

The literature below is a research about self-checkout machine in Tesco supermarkets, and it aims at answering; the reasons that Tesco has changed, importance of self checkout systems in Tesco and challenges faced by the self checkout systems. TESCO is a chain of supermarkets stores originally from the U.K; they have expanded rapidly over the past few years. These stores are of general merchandise that carries everything from clothing, deckchairs, groceries, petrol stations, wines, consumer electronics, DVD and CDS. TESCO has stores in North America, Asia and Europe that operate under the TESCO brand. It operates hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenient stores. TESCO services allow their customers to do their shopping from the comfort of their chairs; because delivery is done to their homes, and it also offers internet shopping services.

Service innovation. Customers are open to increasingly outsourcing supply chain and logistics activities to third parties. Flexible and innovative solutions are highly important to gain and retain profitable market share.

Table of Contents Situational Analysis Appendices External Analysis Appendix A: S.W.O.T. Analysis Appendix B: External Trend/Issue Analysis Appendix C: Environmental Trends/Issues Plot Appendix D: Stakeholder Map Appendix E: Service Area Profile Appendix F: Service Area Structural Analysis Appendix G: Service Area Competitor Analysis Appendix H: Critical Success Factor Analysis Appendix I: Mapping Competitors Appendix J: Synthesizing the Analysis Internal Analysis Appendix K: Financial Analysis Appendix L: Value Chain Strengths and Weaknesses Appendix M: Value Chain Competitive Advantages Relative to Strengths

Many businesses are implementing technology to combat wage increases and remain competitive. Many larger retailers, such as Walmart and Kroger, have effectively maintained self-checkouts for customers for years. The self-checkout area may have four to six registers, manned by one associate. Larger gas stations are implementing new technologies, as well. Quick Trip(QT) has installed a system that allows the user to order food and drink by touch screen, print a ticket and pay at the regular counter, eliminating the need for extra cashiers and registers. They serve a variety of items such as specialty coffees, smoothies, pretzels, pizza, sandwiches, ice cream and more with their user-friendly system. In addition, pay at the pump has provided relief at long lines of gas stations for years. Restaurants such as Wendy’s, McDonalds, and Panera bread are currently investing in kiosk to serve the future needs of their customers. Wendy’s will have 6,000 locations equipped with kiosk by the end of 2016. "With the pressure on wages and minimum wage increasing in some places, (restaurants) are motivated," said Bob Welcher, president of Restaurant Consultants Inc. "From an operational standpoint, I can see the advantages." Welcher also adds that “The kiosks are more precise. They always are courteous. They always show up to work on time." (Malone, JD. "Wendy's embraces self-order kiosks." Columbus Dispatch, The (OH) 17 May 2016: Newspaper Source. Web. 9 Dec. 2016.)

Scientists at Indiana University are working to develop new technologies for customer interface interactions in retail stores. Right now they are not concerned with the potential cost-effectiveness of the technologies or the marketability of the technologies. These scientists are involved in:

Tangible goods, or rather manufactured goods, have been the dominant medium of exchange for centuries. However, recent decades have proved that it is no longer the case as there has been a prevalence of being service oriented (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:1-2). Services, as defined by Vargo and Lusch (2004), are  “the application of specialized competences (knowledge and skills) through deeds, processes, and performances for the benefit of another entity or the entity itself (p.2).” Utilizing services gives businesses an edge, a competitive advantage, particularly in an evolving competitive market, something which Metalfrio is definitely part of (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:9).  Those businesses that learn to adapt tend to do well. In addition, Vargo and Lusch (2004) write this shift to services is also a shift from producer perspective to a customer perspective (p.2). Thus, it leads to more of a collaborative effort where co-creation leads to adding value to the service rather than a product having value (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:6). Also, customers rather develop relationships with those that can provide a range of related services over an extended period of time, thus allowing businesses retain their clients for the long term (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:13). Overall, service oriented marketing is a direction that businesses should be headed towards to ensure that they can remain relevant and competitive in the

Service firms are increasingly using customer service to develop sustainable competitive advantage – through value generation as well as differentiation. This

The Airline industry has experienced continual problems with rising costs with both fuel and maintenance which has caused them to increase their fees to the consumers to pay for those rising costs. This paper will help explain what an airline such as Delta does to help alleviate such costs without forcing its consumers to flip the bill through high fees that consist of tickets, baggage fees and food. The costs of doing business in aviation today have spiraled out of control making it very expensive for both airlines and the

In today’s environment, it is extremely essential for retailers to embrace technology in the course of their businesses. This is mainly because a significant number of consumers can be attracted and accessed through technological measures. It is essential to appreciate the fact that data, infrastructure and e-commerce software form the basis of United Parcel Service’s technological superiority. All these tools play a pivotal role in supporting the company’s e-commerce strategy and the company’s business strategy as a whole. One of the key attributes of United Parcel Service is its commitment to investing in researching emerging technologies. This gives it an exceptionally competitive advantage. United Parcel Service (UPS) consistently seeks to embrace technologies that that enhance the company’s efficiency (Russell Baker, 2008). The company’s commitment to technological advancement made the company appear in InternetWeek’s top 100 companies in 2004 (Russell Baker, 2008). On the other hand, InfoWorld ranked the company as the seventh company with the most significant contribution to technological infrastructure.

Innovative Widgets is small firm with about 50 employees. The firm provides widgets, which serve as components for machinery used by companies across industries. Innovative Widgets is a very customer centric company. Since it is small company with a specific focus on providing components, it needs to pay attention to the requirements of its customers. Their business model relies heavily in loyal customers, which lead repeat purchases over time. To achieve this, the company has to develop a string service based model to deal with its clients.

Self-service technology does require a moderate change in behavior as consumers must learn to use equipment. However, self-service technology is designed to be intuitive, so the adjustment is not major. Thus, self-checkout technology would be best considered as a dynamically continuous

The elusive goal of customer satisfaction has long provided companies with endless headaches and difficult decisions. In the end, associating specific customer satisfaction metrics to company profit and loss would provide the undeniable proof needed to make changes, and then invest the required capital to address any concerns. Starbucks, not unlike the rest of the business world, has found itself in the same situation. At a basic level, the argument that more investment in customer service creates higher customer satisfaction has already been fundamentally agreed upon. However, more specifically, Starbucks must decide if a reinvestment of $40M annually in

Excellent customer service is a way to set the organization apart from its competitors. Differentiation can be achieved through fast and correct execution of product ordering. To improve on the order process it is important to have the correct information provided in a timely fashion to all divisions. For integration to be successful information must be available throughout the entire supply chain.

Meanwhile, in operational stage, through improving seller service, customer satisfaction increased which is helpful for building or maintaining the loyalty of customer for companies. As a result, it can sale more productions to increase revenues and profitability.