ICT274 Electronic Commerce

Introduction:

The aim of this business report is to show the CEO and other members of senior management how the use of E-commerce can restore their business to competitiveness. Albertsons is a business that is experiencing significant threats with its existing E-Commerce application. Hence this paper aims to analyze the business infrastructure of Albertsons to identify the challenges they are facing while delivering business services and improve their business revenue. Considering the fact that E-Commerce business infrastructure stands for the process of selling and purchasing goods through the internet it is also identified that due to the huge crowd on E-Commerce websites these servers have become information-rich servers that consist of a wide range of customer data (Tolstoy et al., 2021). Followed by this it is also identified that the upper management of the organization is facing difficulties to gain business competitiveness. Based on these identifications it aims to develop a consultant report that will consist of a detailed idea about the issues experienced by the nominated business due to a lack of understanding of IT & E-Commerce applications (Oláh et al., 2019). In addition to these discussions, it will also consist of a recommendation to improve business infrastructure by utilizing E-Commerce applications in a significant manner.

Background:

The company Albertsons is one of the largest retailers present in the US that deals with almost 34 million customers per week. Albertsons is a grocery store to start online delivery back in the 2000s. This organization is highly popular for its best-delivered services that have satisfied its customers. Albertsons is aiming to deliver a reliable and distinctive omnichannel client experience, both in-store as well as through digital channels. However, the higher management of Albertsons has realized that in this competitive market it is very difficult to address customer interest with conventional market strategies and technologies. Based on this determination Albertsons is thinking beyond speed and suitability. Followed by a detailed analysis of the business infrastructure of Albertsons it is determined that due to poor quality of search results in terms of accuracy and relevance the customers of the business are experiencing threats to get their preferred products as well as to find best suits products from them. In addition to these, the use of ineffective business technology and approaches have contributed to the high bounce rates Albertsons was also experiencing. It is determined from the business analysis that Albertsons requires the implementation of strategic e-commerce and information technology applications.

Purpose:

As a consultant, it is believed that the company Albertsons is delivering the best quality services to their customers can enhance their business revenue as well as lower the bounce rate by empowering their e-commerce and digital capabilities. Based on this finding the purpose of this consultant report is to aware the CEO and other members of senior management of Albertsons of the existing limitations of the business infrastructure and recommend strategic ideas to improve the current business infrastructure. The recommendation part of the report will be prepared based on the interests shared by the IT Director of Albertsons Shanti and other members of senior management.

Identify challenges:

In the below section the issues experienced by Albertsons B2C commerce business are listed along with the explanation of its impact and severity: -

Poor Search Result-

The managing and IT committee of Albertsons have identified that due to poor data collection the organization is going through poor search results (Kasemsap 2018). However, Albertsons has continuously been forward of the curvature when it comes to eCommerce but now the organization is focusing on the quality of their services and customer satisfaction rather than speed and convenience. The investigation has shown that due to the presence of a large set of products on the E-Commerce site it sometimes becomes very difficult for the website to deliver the search product in an effective manner. While analyzing the reasons behind these issues it is identified that weak product descriptions are one of the reasons that cause poor search results (Jimenez, Valdes and Salinas 2019). In addition, the product consists of no user review, or the website has no unbranded keyboard might raise the issue of poor search results. Followed by a detailed analysis it is also observed that poor search results are also caused by this strategy of an organization that focuses on transactional keywords rather than focusing on informational content (Liu et al., 2017). Lastly, poor migration between the e-commerce platforms is also one of the reasons behind the identified issue.

In support of this investigation, it is determined that the IT manager of Albertsons has identified an opportunity to reduce the search and browsing time to impress their customers. In addition to this, the company has also aimed to eliminate the threat of poor digital basket effectiveness by improving the basket size and enhance the conversion rate. According to the research, it is determined that for the new customers in e-commerce application it becomes very time-consuming to place an order and build a basket (Karmaker Santu, Sondhi and Zhai 2017). Followed by these determinations it is identified that to ensure the delivery of their desired services it is essential to be attentive towards the improvement of research results with the purpose to obtain better appreciation and revenue from the business market.

Poor Personalization-

In addition to the above-mentioned challenge, it is also identified that the nominated organization have experienced significant threat with delivering personalized services to their customers. According to the researchers, personalization is one of the critical elements of an E-Commerce application that creates a customized atmosphere for every user based on their search and activity data (Liu et al., 2017). The aim of a personalized eCommerce platform is to provide a unique experience to every user to enhance their purchasing experience. It is identified from the investigation that Albertsons is experiencing competitive threats while delivering personalized services to their customers due to the collection of poor data. Keeping this consideration in mind it is also observed that for a website personalization it is important to have an appropriate data analytics process that will extract useful insight from the collected data (Chung and Kang 2020). While analyzing the existing business infrastructure of Albertsons it is observed that despite having a distinctive opening channel customer experience in both offline and online format the organization is still struggling with service customization. Considering the aim of this organization it can be stated that adoption of personalized experience will help the user to find their preferred product in a much quicker manner that will also ensure speedy basket building.

Followed by a thorough analysis of this challenge it can be stated that in this high technological competitive market there is a various retail company those have adopted personalization strategies to address unique demand of each user (Sharma and Malhotra 2021). Despite being the fact that the organization is one of the fast grocery stores that has opened online delivery its existing data collection and analysis behaviour is very challenging. Hence it can be stated that to enhance the business infrastructure as well as to address customer satisfaction it is essential to implement appropriate strategies to use E-Commerce applications in such a manner that will help them to restore their business and competitiveness.

Application of e-commerce:

The above-identified limitations associated with Albertsons states that the organization is experiencing issues with the search result, personalization, and the incorporation of data-driven business infrastructure. Based on the aim of Albertsons it is determined that along with improving the research and personalized experience the CEO has also aimed to integrate additional features such as recipe and menu research, linking ingredients to the recipe to provide its user a unique experience. In the below section a list of recommendations to improve e-commerce utilization for the business is mentioned: -

Bloomreach Search-

In order to address the real-time search result issue, it is recommended to incorporate the Bloomreach search feature that is one of the leading AI-powered search sites to drive business revenue. Followed by a detailed analysis it is identified that the recommended strategy empowers the business to have access to an algorithm and advanced search tool to enable the team to create an associated experience at a high scale (Bloomreach.com. 2021). The incorporation of this feature will help the business to enhance their search experience by helping the visitor to find their product very fast. In addition to this, it also helps to manage the contains present in the Business Network by generating a suitable omnichannel experience. Keeping these considerations in mind it can be stated that to improve the E-Commerce site of the business it will be very beneficial for Albertsons to implement the Bloomreach search feature to enhance their digital capabilities and generate our digital search box for their users.

Personalization-

This is one of the effective strategies to improve the business scenario of the organization as it targets audience segmentation, market segmentation as well as real-time progressive profiling. The collaboration with Bloomreach Experience Manager (brXM) will empower the business to personalize its content and improve its decision-making approach. While investigating it is identified that the recommended approach stands for the integration of a wide range of tools that include data collection tool, logical algorithm, content performance testing tool as well as market trained identification tool (Bloomreach.com. 2021). the collaboration with this ensures easy personalization of E-Commerce website to serve customized services to their user. In addition to these identifications, it is also determined that Bloomreach Experience Manager (brXM) Is capable of ensuring privacy and security standards within the organization by allowing transparent cookie collection as well as delete personal data on request. this is one of the critical features required for an effective website to ensure data integrity.

Merchandising-

Considering the fact that the organization has aimed to incorporate data-driven strategy within its business infrastructure it is recommended to collaborate with Bloomreach Search and Merchandising (brSM). The investigation has shown that Bloomreach Search and Merchandising (brSM) is the industry-leading AI-driven site of search for e-commerce platforms. One of the reasons behind the recommendation of this tool is, it offers the elimination of manual effort while dealing with Merchandise operations. In addition, this will also support the product and content-driven approach of the business operations of Albertsons to gain business competitiveness (Bloomreach.com. 2021). The features of this Bloomreach Search and Merchandising (brSM) ensures the development of powerful products and services to discover sustainable business growth. In addition to this, it is also determined that Bloomreach Search and Merchandising (brSM) capable of delivering customized services to align the tool with the business goals. This will also provide an additional feature to expand the business profit margin, analyze offline sales and enhance the return data. Along with this, the merchandising tool drives data-driven and impactful strategies. Offers customized purchasing journey and identifiable preferences for the user.

The above-recommended strategies have mainly focused on the improvement of search results and personalization. In addition, this also empowers the digital features of business and its competitiveness.

Conclusion:

After completion of the consultant report, it can be stated that it is very essential to show the CEO and other members of senior management of Albertsons how the use of E-commerce can restore their business to competitiveness. The company Albertsons is one of the largest retailers present in the US that deals with almost 34 million customers per week. This is a grocery store to start online delivery back in the 2000s. Albertsons is highly popular for its best-delivered services that have satisfied its customers. Albertsons is aiming to deliver a reliable and distinctive omnichannel client experience, both in-store as well as through digital channels. In addition to these, the use of ineffective business technology and approaches have contributed to the high bounce rates Albertsons was also experiencing. In the consultant report, it is presented that Albertsons has identified that due to poor data collection the organization is going through poor search results and the organization has experienced significant threats with delivering personalized services to their customers. With the purpose to provide detailed information on the case scenario, it is recommended to collaborate with Bloomreach Experience Manager (brXM) and Bloomreach Search and Merchandising (brSM) to ensure the delivery of the desired objectives. The recommended e-commerce strategy will offer flexibility within the business infrastructure to offer competitiveness.

Reference:

Bloomreach.com. 2021. How Albertsons Builds an End-to-End Online Shopping Experience | Bloomreach. [online] Available at: <https://www.bloomreach.com/en/customers/albertsons.html> [Accessed 23 May 2021].

Bloomreach.com. 2021. Personalization | Bloomreach Experience Manager. [online] Available at: <https://www.bloomreach.com/en/products/experience-manager/personalization#:~:text=Bloomreach%20Experience%20Manager%20(brXM)%20lets,personalization %20from%20one%20central%20place.> [Accessed 23 May 2021].

Chung, K. and Kang, Y., 2020. Deriving Design Guidelines to Address Complexity Issues in eCommerce Apps for the Elderly. Archives of Design Research, 33(4), pp.137-157.

Jimenez, D., Valdes, S. and Salinas, M., 2019. Popularity comparison between e-commerce and traditional retail business. International Journal of Technology for Business, 1(1), pp.10-16.

Karmaker Santu, S.K., Sondhi, P. and Zhai, C., 2017, August. On application of learning to rank for e-commerce search. In Proceedings of the 40th International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (pp. 475-484).

Kasemsap, K., 2018. The importance of electronic commerce in modern business. In Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Fourth Edition (pp. 2791-2801). IGI Global.

Liu, D., Xu, S., Zhang, B., Wang, C., Li, C. and Zhou, F., 2017, June. Issues with conducting controlled on-line experiments for E-Commerce. In 2017 18th IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD) (pp. 187-192). IEEE.

Liu, S., Xiao, F., Ou, W. and Si, L., 2017, August. Cascade ranking for operational e-commerce search. In Proceedings of the 23rd ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (pp. 1557-1565).

Oláh, J., Kitukutha, N., Haddad, H., Pakurár, M., Máté, D. and Popp, J., 2019. Achieving sustainable e-commerce in environmental, social and economic dimensions by taking possible trade-offs. Sustainability, 11(1), p.89.

Sharma, S. and Malhotra, M., 2021. Web Usage Mining Issues in Big Data: Challenges and Opportunities. In Impacts and Challenges of Cloud Business Intelligence (pp. 102-112). IGI Global.

Tolstoy, D., Nordman, E.R., Hånell, S.M. and Özbek, N., 2021. The development of international e-commerce in retail SMEs: An effectuation perspective. Journal of World Business, 56(3), p.101165.

Are you looking for custom writing help? Then you have come to the right place. We have handpicked the best subject matter experts to help you with your academic tasks. Whether you need help with an academic poster or you need a ghostwriter, we have got your back. Our essay writing service has garnered immense popularity from all over the world. This is mainly due to the client-centric services and reasonable prices we offer. We also provide online exam help to students and help them score good grades on the paper hassle-free. Get paper help from PhD-qualified experts and boost your grades like never before.