In fact am going as far today that information technologies is what’s allowed their very e Sistine today in the market. Amazon and Walter both have remarkable stories and over the years have faced many challenges and have risen to meet them. Their stories are truly an inspiration to organizations and business minded individuals. The purpose of this writing is to share with you two very powerful organizations success stories and how information technology was and is the primary driving force behind their such sees.
We will start with Walter. Walter Inc. Is an American multinational retail corporation; operating in 27 countries around the globe they currently have 1 1 ,088 locations operating. W Lamar is known for it’s relentless pursuit of low consumer prices; their revenue for 201 3 summed to a exceptional total of US$ 476. 294 Billion and according to the Fortune Glob bal 500 is the largest corporation in the world in terms of revenue. Research states that LOS$36 million is being spent every hour of every day at Walter.
Founded in 1962 by Sam Walton; Walter’s first location was opened in Bonneville, Arkansas. Organize actions like Walter do not turn into these corporate giants over night; their reason f or their wild success? Information systems. Walter’s was able to leverage information yester to an extent that was never seen before in the retail industry. Techno logy tightly coordinates with Walter’s value chain from top to bottom and has alls o given Walter access to amenable data assets that is unmatched in any U. S retail organization.
Going into the history of how Walter has implementing technology systems into their organization; 15 years after their launch in Arkansas, In 1977, Wall art leased an IBM 370/135 computer system that was in charge Of maintaining inventory control for all merchandise in the warehouses and distribution centers that prepared Inc mom statements for each store. This resulted in the implementation of electronic c ash registers in more than 1 00 different stores allowing for the collection of the p mint of sale (POS) data to be collected and maintain inventory.
Two years later Walter b lilt a company wide computer network and deployed a system that allowed for Wa Amaretto order merchandise from suppliers. In 1 979 Walter became the first organization to reach over a $1 billion in Sal in only 1 7 years. Following this notable achievement; Walter build a compute center and installed their first terminal in a store which was an IBM 3774. Shortly aft Erin 1983 Walter began to use Barbados for scanning the previously mentioned POS d ATA.
Textron handheld terminals for reordering merchandise were issued to store associates starting in 1984. When an employee scanned a shelf label; this terminal gave description of the merchandise, information on previous quantities ordered a ND other data. Again Walter makes history in 1987 by completing at the current time the largest private satellite communication system in the whole United States. HTH s allowed for all operating units of the company and headquarters to be linked via two ay voice,data and anyway communication.
They also implemented a checking Cyst me that was created to take full advantage of container barded labeling in the back r mom of every store that was currently operating. In the 1 990 Walter created a data warehouse prototype which was designed to store historical sales data. Shortly after in 1992, Walter implemented the Retail Link system into their organization which strengthen supplier partnerships. This supplied vendors in formation dealing with sales trends and inventory levels.
The Retail Link continues to be refined still today marked the beginning Of Walter’s efficiency journey. Each time an tem is now scanned by a Walter cash register employee, Retail Link records the Sal e and does a vast amount more. It also automatically initiates inventory reordering, scheduling, and delivery. Behind the scenes backfire scanners keep track of inventory as supplier shipments come in and choreographed delivery times. Implementing Retail Link technology allowed for Walter to keep their shell sees stocked while also keeping inventories at a minimum.
Four years later Walter makes a huge shift by making their retail link system and electronic data interchange (EDI) available via the Internet and began to u e the Internet as an application platform; they decide to launch their first online stop rest. After they had found that to be a success Walter in 2002 decided to choose the in tern for data exchange with thousands of its global suppliers; also they had their big est. singled sales in history summing to a whopping total of $1. 43 billion on black k Friday.
A major shift information technology for Walter occurred in 2004 when they announced that they were going to deploy radio frequency identification (RFC D) technology starting. 1, 2005. The RIFF boost Walter’s supply chain magna meet immensely as it allowed for them to identify a product any time anywhere al most instantly by tracking pallets of merchandise traveling along its supply chain, including their warehouses. This enabled Walter to Cut the amount Of excess inventor y in their massive supply chain and reduced their outback’s occurrences by almost on third.
With this new RIFF technology,Walter expected to make up a large of ammo NT of amount of their lost sales revenue back. Ron Moser who was the RADAR strategy y leader for Walter at that given time explained that around of all lost sales are d e to the simple fact that the store has run out of an item, however 41% of lost sales AR e due to inventory problems. He stated that if RIFF was able to fix just 10% of that pro blame, then Walter would gain $287 million per year by avoiding it’s lost sales. Two years later, Walter decided to redesign Walter. Mom’, and began to experiment with Web 2. 0. They also began to develop social networking tools and made contracts with Oracle and HP to use their personalization and Bal (Buss news Intelligence) retail applications. In 2007 Walter launched their first stepsister arrive which enabled customers to order merchandise online and pick it up n store. Going back to RADAR, 2010 Walter announced their next phase of the RIFF SST taste; placing tags on individual garments. The RIFF tags gives Walter multiple DVD montages over the traditional Barbados.
RIFF tags are able to store more data, provide information in realties, and can be scanned from a distance without a clear Ii en of sight. Walter today as firm has an annual inventory turnover ratio of 8. 5. HTH s means that they sell the equivalent of its entire inventory every six weeks. The average turnover ratio for the retail industry in the United States is less than 2. Another way information systems have allowed this rampant success of Wall art is through data mining. Walter mines its current ‘mother lode’ of data to en’s ere that their product mix is correct under various sorts of environmental conditions.
This protects Walter from what is described as “a retailers twin nightmare; too much inventory, or not enough”. The organizations data mining capabilities were bal e to inform buyers that customers stock up on certain products on days leading u p to certain predictable natural disasters such as hurricanes or drought. Although it wool d seem obvious for Walter to bump up batteries and bottled water, they also learnt through data mining that Potter sales actually increase by seven times the regular a mount before a storm hits, and that beer is a top ‘protestor’ seller.
This insight gives Walter the advantage of being able to send truckloads of beer and Patrols along with batteries and bottled water into certain areas whenever they catch wind of a potential big storm hitting. Data mining also helps Walla art by tightening their operational forecasts. It enables them to predict certain thing s and answer questions such as ” how many cashiers do we need at a given store at various times of the day throughout the year? ‘. Data is essentially the driving force be hind this organization.
Mined reports allow for the forming basis of weekly sales meet nags and as well as executive strategy sessions. Walter used technology to become a supply chain leader in the market. It’s actually quite hard to mention or search up supply chain management without t finding evidence of Walter in there. Their relentless pursuit of low consumer prices encourages them to find every way possible to be innovative, to cut costs, and o pass along the savings to the customer.
Supply chain management has always bee challenging for organizations attempting to move goods from one place to an other in a timely manner. Any sort of breakdown in the supply chain means there will b e empty shelves resulting in a loss of revenue. Through the combination of other count irruptions such as distribution practices, truck fleet management, and primarily through technological innovations, Walter has become a leading model of supply chi efficiency and has now used it to become the largest retailer and private sector r employer in the world.
Given Hallmark impressive history, its clear that information systems didn’t only enable this organizations very existence, it had enabled Walter to become me one of the leading corporate superpowers in our world today. Walter embraced technological change and revolutionized supply chain management. As with a NY business, Walter continues today to improve and make their operations MO efficient; no doubt with the Internet of Things emerging Walter will be able t 0 find some way of capitalizing on it and yet again lead the way for embracing change taking their operations in every aspect to the next level.
We’re now going to s fit gears and take a look at the company Amazon who has also proven to embrace en w information systems and dominate the market in online retail. Amazon . Com, Inc. Was founded on July 5th, 1994 is Seattle, Washington. Although Amazon may not have the extensive history like Walter, that’s not to say their story isn’t impressive and revolutionary. Founded by Jeff Bozos ( Chairs President and CEO), Amazon is the current largest interested company in the United States.
In the 1 99(Yes markets were experiencing an “Internet business boom” which is when Bozos decided to found Amazon in what he called his “regret minimization framework” basically meaning his efforts to fend off any regrets for not participating in this Internet business boom sooner. They initially started out as primarily an online bookstore but later diversified to selling all sorts of products online; DVD’s, vs., MPEG downloads, video games, furniture, food, toys, jewelry etc. Amazon is a Iso known for producing their own consumer electronics such as the Amazon Kin del eBook reader, Kindle Fire Tablets, Fire TV and Fire Phone.
This online organization al so serves to be one of the major provider of cloud computing services. The reason for Amazon. Com going from simply an online bookseller to a dominate global marketplace is of course the innovation and implementation Of new information technology. Amazon seems to stay one click ahead of its existing rivals and future competitors. They are able to leverage technology investments and buy seines partnerships to capture market transitions like few others. New information t genealogy is the primary driving force behind Amazon. Coma’s success.
Through informant technology Amazon was and is able to operate more efficiently, reach a broad ere market, and increase their revenue. The increasingly popularity of commerce is the lifeline foeman. Com. Now days more and more individual customers are switching to online platforms t o do their shopping. Commerce has been gaining traction since the mid sass’s and co entities grow in popularity. Amazon has capitalized on this increase in popularity by b Ewing a completely online retail organization. With more and more customer switching g over to online platforms on their smartness or other devices.
Amazon will continuo e to push the innovation envelope to keep with their customers wants and needs. Information technology has also allowed Amazon to make their customers on line shopping experience as efficient as ever. With their new ‘one click’ ability cuts moors can now simply make one click which will automatically trigger the payment p recess and the shipment information. Having a profile with Amazon allows them to have access to your credit card information and shipment information which adds to the cuss toners convenience.
This feature is certainly appealing for shoppers who know what they want and when they want. It can also be great for capturing impulse buyers as well. Amazon’s shipping system is practically flawless; when a customer buys a pro duct from Amazon its almost guaranteed that the company will get that product to the c nonuser In given amount of time. If you want something overnight, Amazon tells you the cut off and gets it to you in time. If you wanted it a week from now, Amazon allows you t o choose the delivery date.
With Amazon’s features such as prime shipping or overnight shipping; customer’s can receive their product in just 1 2 business days! These improve meets in Amazon’s retail chain has so far been unmatched by any other company co petting in the retail market. Amazon has an overwhelming amount of data that’s collectible thanks to information systems. With the abundance of data that Amazon is able to turn into knowledge they are able to implement a greater personalization of products, services and experiences for their customer’s online shopping experience.
They equip peed with the tools that enable them to know their customers at a deeper level. Anyone can go on a website and click ‘buy’ for a product; there are many companies that offer the at sort Of service now. What Amazon is moving towards is making that experience more arsenal and catering that product or service specific to the customer’s needs. Amazon already can do this by recommending certain products based off of the products that their customers have previously searched or purchased. Were going to see this fee turret improved and perfected over the years to come.
Amazon’s leverage of Inform action systems are allowing them to keep their competitive edge by implementing the at level of personalization with their customers. Another way in which information systems have helped enable Amazon. Com it’s venture is a drastic improvement of their web services feature. Amazon we b services is a collection of web services that make up a cloud computing platform. This service provides large computing capacity much faster and cheaper than building a p hysterical server farm.
Amazon Web Services have now become an integral component I n many companies IT infrastructure. Companies are able to offload devastate applicant actions to ensure faster pigeonholing times and create an overall better web experience. We’re seeing now in commerce is the dominance of mobile devices used for shopping. Traditional laptops or computers will become obsolete for online p researchers ND mobile devices will be the primary driving force for purchases in come race. Millions of people already have smart phone devices and millions more will h eave them in the years to come.
Smart phone features allow you to connect online from practically any location at any time. With the increase of mobile smart phones people AR e going to start making every purchase online from their hand. What Amazon has already Y done is created their Amazon app in the passport. This means that customers are bal download the app for free and use that to do their shopping. Once again Ama zoon’s ability to leverage new information technologies has enabled them to make t heir service more convenient for their customers.
Along with creating the app for apple and android users; Amazon has gone ahead to create their own devices to compete in the market. Where Amazon r ally stands out with their devices on their ‘noontide features’. They choose to go further than their competitors by offering a tech support feature allowing an expert to fix issues right away without having to go into a store. They also have a feature c allied ‘free time’ this allows for parents to limit how much time their child can spend using its tablets. A new service Amazon offers in result of new technology is the ‘crosswise shopping experience.
The offering allows for anyone to comment with the tag “#Amazon Cart” to a tweet from an Amazon product link, and it will automatic ally be sent to your shopping cart on your Amazon account. If you’re in a rush and do NT have time to browse the web doing online shopping, you can simply reply with that washrag and the product is directly added to your account; you don’t’ have to talk to a NY sales representative or anything. This is a huge benefit for customers who aim to g t their shopping done as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
