Shopping

(Virtual) Food For Thought: Virtual Supermarkets

Posted on by spr1312ckim

During this day and age, there are two main themes behind our technological advances as a human race: innovation and convenience. Almost everything is available via the Internet and accessible with our computers or smart phones. We can shop for clothes, order dinner, pay our bills, and do a lot more using our handheld devices. The newest addition to our already impressive lineup is a virtual supermarket. I know what you’re wondering, does this mean I will have to eat virtual food? The answer is no, virtual supermarkets have the same end goal as ordinary grocery stores: you get your produce in your fridge as expected.

Virtual supermarkets started in Japan and South Korea by Tesco Homeplus, a British grocery company. They are strategically located in subway stations alongside the walls and are set up as regular grocery stores, but instead of actual products, there are pictures of the items with a QR code beneath them. Users scan the QR codes with their smart phones and add the items to a virtual shopping cart. Once all of the products are in the cart, the shopper places the order and is charged through their credit card. The groceries then arrive at the person’s doorstep the next day. Virtual supermarkets eliminate the hassle of actually visiting a grocery store, physically carrying the items, and they also save a lot of time for shoppers.

The U.S. has caught on to the craze by introducing virtual supermarkets in Chicago, Boston, New York, and other major metropolitan areas. Peapod, a U.S. grocery company, has taken the initiative by setting up  virtual supermarkets in subway stations just like Japan and South Korea. So far, there has been positive feedback from the younger generation, but  older people prefer to physically visit the stores. This shows that we are truly in an age of innovation and convenience, or that we have become extremely lazy.

An advantage that virtual supermarkets have from an operations management perspective is the management of inventory. By not having the inventory physically present, the products won’t sit on the shelves and companies can place orders for certain items based on the online demand, eliminating backlog.

I believe that having virtual supermarkets is a step forward in the right direction, but this step lacks some benefits that are present when physically being in a store. When I was younger, I used to always accompany my mom to the grocery store and she would tell me how to pick out the ripe fruits, or how to tell similar vegetables apart. She knew exactly what she was getting by touching and feeling the products. Another missing component to virtual grocery shopping is taste-testing the food. Many times we are not certain about what to buy and by trying a sample, we decide whether or not to purchase the product. That is one advantage that places like Costco will have over virtual supermarkets.

Virtual supermarkets define innovation and convenience, but are not for everyone. Would you ever consider using one, and if so, do you see virtual supermarkets replacing physical grocery stores in the future?

Sources:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/virtual-grocery-shopping-and-v-158354

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/peapod-virtual-grocery-st_n_1929756.html

http://www.zdnet.com/virtual-supermarket-shopping-with-a-smartphone-4010022941/

 

 

After midnight.. Mannequins become alive!

Posted on by ahmadf502

“Where Shopping meets Entertainment” is the slogan of the mall I work at. To keep up with our statement, the management works hard to ensure visitors overall satisfaction, present a new shopping and entertaining experience and to operate at full capacity during trading hours. To do so, extensive amount of work must be done after hours, after the last customer leaves the mall.

 

So what happens at midnight when the mall is closed? The answers would be: the mall becomes alive! Over 340 stores open their doors one more time to be cleaned, new inventory moved in, showcase items are replaced and mannequins are re-dressed. The mall’s Operation Team has to provide enough security members to ensure nothing is stolen from stores, they also issue work permits for external suppliers and cleaning companies as well as create a daily working schedule covering all the activities that will happen between midnight to 8am.

 

The real challenge..

Besides coordinating stores related activities, the Operation Team plays a huge role prior to launching new promotional campaigns along with other departments. This includes Marketing, Finance and Maintenance, as they have to plan and schedule setting-up and dismantling large promotional displays in less than 8 hours, also including the following tasks:

–  Shipping the display items into the mall through loading bays, and providing proper transportation

–  Replacing signage and banners around the mall, including banners hanging from the mall’s sealing 40 meters high.

–  Monitor the storing of old display items and banners.

–  Ensure all extra waste is removed and the mall is ready to open its door for visitors.

 

We learned in our last class about project scheduling and performing Critical Path analysis. I realized that our mall management uses the same analysis while planning campaign launches. As we will be working against the clock, the management creates a Backward Pass plan, beginning with the last event that is due at 8 am and working backwards. Time is always a priority in such projects, and if extra costs are needed to meet the 8 am deadline the management can only agree to pay.

 

3am Surprises..

Although the team spends over a month planning an 8 hour project with the suppliers and assembling company, there is always a chance for unexpected errors that might affect the project’s working path. It happened in several occasions that a supplier would discover in the middle of the working progress that there is a missing piece from the display, or banners need to be re-printed as they are in the wrong size. Solving such problems is not easy, as printing and production companies are closed, arranging extra staff is challenging and some decision makers will be in deep sleep at the time of these tragedies.

 

Fortunately, the mall management was able to solve such problems, bearing extra costs of course. The question is what can be done to prevent such problems and can this be done without additional costs?