assessing digital technology

• What are the Key Pressures to Adopt Digital Technology?

  • Serve existing customers better (and meeting their higher expectations)

  • Reach new customers in new segments & locations

  • Offer new ways of delivering products and services using digital technology

  • Reduce costs by integrating digital technology into operations

  • The need to respond to digital innovation by competitors
• What is E-Commerce?

  Digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organisations and individuals
• The Disruptive Impact of E-Commerce

  • Market size (revenues, quantity)

  • Market structure

  • Distribution channels

  • Customer needs and wants

  • Profitability

  • Length of product life cycles

  • Alternatives for the consumer
• Linking the developments in e-commerce to a key theory – Porter’s Five Forces Model - barriers to entry

  • Widespread availability of smartphones and the associated app “eco-system” has created new ways of delivering existing products & services

  • Global e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, ebay, Google, Alibaba etc. have made it much easier for small businesses to access their target customer base

  • Technological change has shortened product life cycles and enabled new market entrants to challenge established market leaders
• Impact of Digital Technology on Marketing

  Product life cycles are shortened

  Brands and retailers increasingly using multiple distribution channels

  Ability to sell a much wider product range
• Impacts of Digital Technology on HRM

  Need for employees to have a broader range of digital skills

  Workforce planning – to support highly seasonal demand

  Concerns over the working conditions of staff working in e-commerce warehouses
• Impact of Digital Technology on Operations

  Logistics behind large-scale e-commerce platforms are complex

  Economies of scale are becoming increasingly important

  It is now relatively easy for smaller firms to sell online
• Impact of Digital Technology on Finance

  Significant investment required to set-up e-commerce platforms and to integrate them with other systems

  E-commerce likely to involve greater use of multi-currency transactions