King’s Fashion could be doing well because Julie has managed to personalize her services according to her customer’s needs, but the business could do much better in the modern contemporary business world is Julie was to embrace information technology in her store. Today, a clothing line business cannot achieve its full potential without the use of information technology because it will only reach a limited number of customers. This study aims to assess the advantages of embracing technology in a clothing line business and the potential that King’s Fashion can accrue from using technology to enhance its competitive opportunities.
Like accounting or legal services, information services and computers are an essential part of every business that needs to compete favorably. Moreover, technology is both an opportunity and a cost of doing business. Retail operations such as King’s Fashion should leverage on technology to cut operational costs, facilitate a more pleasant shopping experience for their customers, and increase store security (Aloysius et al. 25). Ultimately, technology can assist Julie in everything from ordering inventory to scheduling employee work shifts, and recording revenue and sales collection. Therefore, Julie and her King’s Fashion should be familiar with the wide pool of technological tools she will need to use to compete with larger clothing businesses smoothly in the twenty-first century (Balaji and Sanjit 8). Morimura, Fumikazu, and Yuji, argue that embracing technology in retail stores enhances the security parameters of the operations since it can assist in reducing shoplifting incidents and break-ins (82). Similarly, technology can be used to attach magnetic tags on all the items on sale and pair the tags with scanners at all entryways to discourage potential thieves from stealing the items on display. Moreover, King’s Fashion can use technology to protect its general premises through the use of digital CCTV camera systems in the same way they are used in private houses for surveillance (Aloysius et al. 25; Laudon, Kenneth and Carol 14). King’s Fashion can also use the point-of-sales software programs that are attached to the cash registers.
The point-of-sales software is used in retail businesses to enhance the transaction processes while at the same time reducing the human error possibilities. In addition, the POS software systems are connected with radio-frequency or infrared readers which help to bring instant information about the price of the items to the cashier. Morimura, Fumikazu, and Yuji (86) note that the POS can also be used to add costs of goods on the price list, and automatically calculate the sales tax for each transaction which will make it easier for King’s collection business in compiling their tax returns.
Information technology can also be used in King’s Fashion to manage inventory. The inventory management technology is designed to facilitate inventory audits, add reliability to inventory accounting, and reduce theft incidents significantly (Moorhouse et al., 134). The inventory items can be equipped with tags that help the retailers to quickly identify the shipment number, cost, and price, among other useful information that will help the store to manage its inventory (Laudon, Kenneth and Carol 16). Moreover, the inventory management software has reduced the use of pen and paper in the twenty-first century thereby reducing the time and resources required to compile the accounting information for inventory additions and subtractions (Hagberg, Johan, Malin and Niklas 695).
Information technology can also be used to enhance communication within the King’s Fashion retail outlet particularly for serving customers directly. Therefore, King’s Fashion should be equipped with multiple online channels of communication such as social media accounts and telephones that will affect sufficient communication avenues for customers who may be busy or far from the store and would want to place an order for some item’s century (Balaji and Sanjit 10). Similarly, customers should be able to make constant communication with the store at the convenience of their residence during business hours for inquiries about the availability of the products and even make payments. Moreover, technology will enhance communications with overseas customers who could be interested in the items in King’s Fashion store. In addition, Julie can track the delivery of the items sold to foreign customers from the convenience of her store needless to follow them manually (Laudon, Kenneth and Carol 18). Consequently, King’s Fashion could enjoy the benefit of having an internet-connected computer for emails and a fax machine on site for checking prices and inventory.
Recommendation
Based on the above analysis and benefits of using technology to enhance business activities, I would recommend that Julie immediately considers using information technology for her business since it will increase her sales and reduce the cost of doing business significantly. Moreover, embracing information technologies in her retail store with enhance the competitiveness of her store and she will be able to compete with more established clothing giants. Notwithstanding, multiple benefits can accrue from using technology in retail businesses since it reduces the costs of doing business and it increases the avenues of serving customers globally.
Bibliography
Aloysius, John A., et al. “Big data initiatives in retail environments: Linking service process perceptions to shopping outcomes.” Annals of operations research 270.1-2 (2018): 25-51. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10479-016-2276-3
Balaji, M. S., and Sanjit Kumar Roy. “Value co-creation with Internet of things technology in the retail industry.” Journal of Marketing Management 33.1-2 (2017): 7-31. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0267257X.2016.1217914
Hagberg, Johan, Malin Sundstrom, and Niklas Egels-Zandén. “The digitalization of retailing: an exploratory framework.” International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 44.7 (2016): 694-712. https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJRDM-09-2015-0140
Laudon, Kenneth C., and Carol Guercio Traver. E-commerce: business, technology, society. 2016. 12-36 http://dspace.fue.edu.eg/handle/123456789/4464
Morimura, Fumikazu, and Yuji Sakagawa. “Information technology use in retail chains: Impact on the standardisation of pricing and promotion strategies and performance.” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 45 (2018): 81-91. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698916301680
Moorhouse, Natasha, M. Claudia tom Dieck, and Timothy Jung. “Technological innovations transforming the consumer retail experience: a review of literature.” Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Springer, Cham, 2018. 133-143. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-64027-3_10