Extending CRM in the Retail Industry: An RFID-Based Personal Shopping Assistant System

This paper describes the research and development of a radio frequency identification (RFID)-based personal shopping assistant (PSA) system for retail stores. RFID technology was employed as the key enabler to build a PSA system to optimize operational efficiency and deliver a superior customer shopping experience in retail stores. We show that an RFID-based PSA system can deliver significant results to improve the customer shopping experience and retail store operational efficiency, by increasing customer convenience, providing flexibility in service delivery, enhancing promotional campaign efficiency, and increasing product cross selling and upselling through a customer relationship management (CRM) system. In this study, an RFID value grid for retail stores is proposed that allows managers to use RFID technology in stores to add value to the shopping experience of their customers. Four propositions are presented as the research agenda for examining the ability of RFID technology to improve the operations management of retail stores

A user perspective of quality of service in m-commerce

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2004 Springer VerlagIn an m-commerce setting, the underlying communication system will have to provide a Quality of Service (QoS) in the presence of two competing factors—network bandwidth and, as the pressure to add value to the business-to-consumer (B2C) shopping experience by integrating multimedia applications grows, increasing data sizes. In this paper, developments in the area of QoS-dependent multimedia perceptual quality are reviewed and are integrated with recent work focusing on QoS for e-commerce. Based on previously identified user perceptual tolerance to varying multimedia QoS, we show that enhancing the m-commerce B2C user experience with multimedia, far from being an idealised scenario, is in fact feasible if perceptual considerations are employed

Online shopping behavior in offline retail stores : strategic value for companies?

In a world where e-tailing and traditional in-store shopping live together and complement each other in several shopping activities (Chu, et. al, 2010), little is known about the possibility of an emerging reality in which online and offline shopping merge into one single phenomenon. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore whether consumers are willing to engage in a shopping behavior inside retail stores in a way that is similar to the one they have when shopping online. Additionally, it sheds light on the strategic value the online-offline shopping holds. To accomplish these objectives, a smartphone shopping scenario is designed to represent a situation that enables consumers to perform in-store shopping tasks in a digital manner, mixing and enhancing the features and benefits of e-tailing with traditional retail store experience. Moreover, a research model, that includes preliminary assumptions and eleven hypotheses to be tested, is designed to fundament the research methodology used. Based on this research model and the smartphone shopping scenario, a survey is conducted in order to collect empirical data on customer’s appraisal of the online-offline shopping process as well as their availability to permit recording their shopping data obtained after performing shopping tasks via smartphone. Furthermore, to access the strategic value of the online-offline shopping process, Resource-based View theory is used in order to identify the existence of possible sources of sustainable competitive advantage. The findings from the research show that respondents value the characteristics of the online-offline shopping process as well as they are willing to permit recording their own shopping data so that they are able to benefit from a contextual personalized shopping experience while shopping in traditional retail stores. The dissertation concludes that because customers value the characteristics of the online-offline shopping process they have a strong motivation to engage in an online-offline shopping behavior. Moreover, since they are willing to trade their shopping privacy for a contextual personalized shopping experience, it is plausible to admit that a strategy based on contextual personalization has potential to be strategic for retail companies. In fact, to generate such a strategy, the customer knowledge generated in the process is argued to be a firm resource that, combined with dynamic capabilities to leverage its utility in providing a contextual personalization experience, is considered to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage meaning the online-offline process has potential to be strategic to retail firms

Bridging Consumers’ Self-Brand Distance through Virtual-Reality: Perspective from Presence Experiences

Virtual-reality (VR) technology seems to be an efficient tool for consumer-brand relationship management since it could affect individuals’ psychological distance by enhancing their presence experiences. However, the effects of VR on individuals’ psychological distance are inconsistent. Based on the customer experience framework and construal level theory, these inconsistent effects could be attributed to the two aspects, namely, internal components of presence experience (i.e., immersive presence and realistic presence) and different impacts of vividness modes (i.e., modeling mode and panoramic mode). To address the above research gap, this study plans to investigate the relationships among consumers’ self-brand distance, presence experiences, vividness modes, and interactivity. An experiment will be conducted to collect empirical data in the VR-simulated shopping environment. The analysis of covariance could be used to examine the hypotheses. This research could offer implications to the literature and practice related to VR shopping and consumer-brand relationship management

Automatic Extraction and Application of Offer Codes from Promotional Messages

Retailers often send customers offer codes for various promotions such as price discounts, free shipping, etc. Customers can avail of the promotional offer by providing the codes when purchasing the corresponding products or services from the retailer. It is not uncommon for customers to overlook the offer codes or forget to provide them during purchase. This disclosure describes techniques, implemented with user permission, to automatically detect promotional messages, extract and save offer codes, and present the offer codes during purchase. The techniques can be implemented within any suitable combination of messaging, web browsing, shopping, and payment applications, and on any device. The techniques can help users save money and shop more efficiently, thus enhancing the user experience (UX) of shopping and payment applications

Neoj4 and SARMIX Model for Optimizing Product Placement and Predicting the Shortest Shopping Path

Product placement of top-selling items in highly visible aisles inside supermarkets plays a crucial role in enhancing customer shopping experience. Moreover, it is important for retailers to assure that their customers can effortlessly navigate the store and locate the items they are searching for in a timely manner. The research proposes a novel and effective approach that combines two methods; the SARIMAX model for forecasting sales of each product based on historical data; by using the predicted result, placing the most demanding item in highly visible aisles. And the use of Graph Database Management Systems (GDBMS) such as Neo4j to find the shortest path for consumers to navigate throughout the store to finish the shopping as per their shopping list. By leveraging the power of data analytics and machine learning, retailers can make data-driven decisions that result in improved sales andcustomer satisfaction. Retailers investing in these technologies and strategies will likely see a significant increase in customer satisfaction and sales

Employing contextual-Omni concept towards a sustainable malaysian fashion retail design

The rapid changing of information technology application and globalization in the past decade has allured Generation Y’s (Gen Y) to opt for environmentalfriendly and convenient online purchasing to fulfil their shopping needs. The purpose of this study is to identify and employ a potential new concept of Omni–Contextual retail design typology and space programming facilities in Malaysia that could revolutionise the Gen-Y shopping experience. The desktop study investigates on the Gen-Y purchasing behaviour, the Gen Y shopping culture, and retail typologies to distinguish the effectiveness of Omni–Channel and Contextual Retail Design (CRD) in enhancing Gen Y. shopping experience. This study found that interactive omni-channel retail spaces and contextual shopping culture can be the key factors that influence Gen Y ultimate shopping behaviour. The CRD space programming typology would benefit designers in developing better sustainable retail typologies, whilst retailers could gain sustainable business economics especially in Malaysia

Modelling 3D product visualisation for online retail atmospherics

Purpose: The Stimulus (S) Organism (O) Responses (R) paradigm has been extensively studied in conventional retailing but has received little attention in the online context. This study aims to investigate the effects of an online retailer atmospheric using three dimensional (3D) product visualisation. Design/methods/approach: We operationalise 3D antecedents, the main online atmospheric cues, as the “stimulus” (S) that attracts consumers’ attention towards the online retailer, authenticity of the 3D, hedonic and utilitarian value as the “organism” (O) part, and consumers’ behavioural intention as the “responses” (R) part. A hypothetical retailer Web site presents a variety of laptops using 3D product visualisations. Findings: The control and animated colours represent the main stimuli (S). Furthermore, 3D authenticity, hedonic and utilitarian values are the main determinants of behavioural intentions. The proposed conceptual model achieves acceptable fit and the hypothesised paths are all valid. Practical implications: Retail website designers can contribute to enhancing consumers’ virtual experience by focusing more on utilitarian and hedonic value. Any 3D flash should include the essential information that consumers seek and consumers should be able to click to any part of the 3D flash to access further information. Originality/values: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first in the U.K. that uses a U.K. sample to investigate the effects of using 3D product visualisation on consumers’ perceptions and responses. Our research makes an important contribution to the online atmospheric literature by providing a rich explanation of how authenticity of the 3D virtual models adds more information, fun and enhances consumers’ responses towards the online retailer

How Design Plays Strategic Roles in Internet Service Innovation: Lessons from Korean Companies

In order to survive in the highly competitive internet business, companies have to provide differentiated services that can satisfy the rapidly changing users’ tastes and needs. Designers have been increasingly committed to achieving user satisfaction by generating and visualizing innovative solutions in new internet service development. The roles of internet service design have expanded from a narrow focus on aesthetics into a more strategic aspect. This paper investigates the methods of managing design in order to enhance companies’ competitiveness in internet business. The main research processes are to: (1) explore the current state of internet service design in Korea through in-depth interviews with professional designers and survey questionnaires to 30 digital design agencies and 60 clients; (2) compare how design is managed between in-house design groups and digital design agencies though the case studies of five Korean companies; and (3) develop a taxonomy characterizing four roles of designers in conjunction with the levels of their strategic contributions to internet service innovation: visualist, solution provider, concept generator, and service initiator. In addition, we demonstrate the growing contributions of the strategic use of design for innovating internet services, building robust brand equity, and increasing business performance. Keywords: Design Management; Internet Business; Internet Service Design; Digital Design; Digital Design Agency; In-House Design Group, Case Study</p