Digital Transformation Activities of ASDA Assessment Answer

Introduction

Digital transformation is defined as the integration of digital technologies within the business in the context of how they operate and furnish value to their consumers. It involves the creation or modification of the existing business processes, consumer experience and culture for addressing the altering market and business requirements (Maliszewski, 2021). It comprises changing the ways how organizations manage and operate so that value can be delivered to their consumers. The report will provide insight into the digital operations of ASDA and how they are delivering their operations in the evolving marketplace. Asda deals in the retail industry that was founded on February 19th, 1949 with its headquarters in West Yorkshire England. They are delivering their services across the UK with more than 633 stores through the assistance of over 1,500 human resources (Jones, 2023). The report will provide insight into digital technologies, market competition, and ethical, social, or behavioural implications. Further, the critical analysis of the processes or technologies will be illustrated as challenges that they experienced while delivering their operations with the usage of relevant theories. The opportunities will also be explored from which firms can have leverage through which they can stand out from their competitors and the marketplace.

The report aims to analyse the digital transformation that took place in ASDA and recommend improvisation strategies.

Organizational Overview

The British retail and supermarket chain, Asda in 2019 became the second-largest firm in the UK in terms of their market shares. The firm is operating its physical stores of different sizes, it involves online grocery platforms, supermarkets, petrol stations, grocery click & collect, online fashion retailers, mobile apps for Android and Apple devices, logistic services, IPL etc. The firm is making use of the latest technologies through which they address the diverse needs of the marketplace and their potential consumers (Plc, 2023).

Till the 12th week of 25th December 2022, the sales for Asda were inclined via around 6.4 per cent in comparison to the previous year. From November 9th 2014 to March 26th, 2016 the sales of the British market declined. After the completion of this time frame, the sales of the firm started to grow and they surpassed the growth rate of approximately 2.4% which is near around 4 times until March 2019 (Retail Insight Network, 2023).

Illustration 1: Percentage change in sales at Asda in Great Britain compared to a year earlier from September 2014 to December 2022 (Retail Insight Network, 2023)

In early 2020 and the second half of 2019, the firm experienced a devasting decrease in its sales. In April 2020, the sales of Asda have grown up as there was a relevant influence of the pandemic crisis on the behaviour of food shopping. After this, time frame the sales of the organization went on fluctuating. The firm struggled with its sales and growth. In the year 2022, the supermarket chain attained a brand value of approximately 2.61 US billion dollars which was almost equivalent to five years, that is in 2018, the firm's brand value was around 2.59 billion dollars (Bedford, 2023). The term brand value denotes how much contribution the brand has made to attaining the significant corporation value.

Current Literature Review

Digital transformation refers to the process through which firms embed technologies within their business for driving fundamental alterations within their operation. It involves usage of the digital technologies for transforming the existing traditional processes into non-digital services or the creation of new ones for addressing the expectations of consumers and the market (Gupta and Bose, 2022) . It will assist in the accomplishment of the operations of the firm and ensure that value is being delivered to its customers.

The three critical areas through which digital transformation can be brought within the organization are illustrated here.

Customer Experience

Comprises work to acknowledge consumers in a detailed manner through the utilisation of the technologies. It assists in fuelling consumer growth and creation of the touchpoints for potential customers (Hoyer et al. 2020).

Operational processes

Are liable to improvise the internal processes to have leverage from automation and digitalization and furnish employees with the digital tools for delivering their operations. Here, huge data are gathered for monitoring performance and formulating strategic organizational decisions (Holopainen et al. 2021).

The Business Model

Transforms the business through augmentation of the physical offerings with the usage of digital services and tools. It assists in the introduction of digital products and utilisation of the technology for furnishing global shared services to ensure that the organizational requirements have been addressed (Casciani et al., 2022).

The digital transformation will assist Asda in the improvisation of the current processes and will enable them to amplify their competitive positioning within the marketplace. The firm can attain inclined productivity through which the overall cost of labour can be declined. For instance, the relevant use of the tools will aid them to maintain the cost down and have inclined productivity. The digital resources can be updated based on the requirements of the organization and it will enable to minimise the associated cost and time (Keiningham et al., 2020). Consumers can be provided with a great experience by making use of different touchpoints such as email, social media, live chat, mobile apps, and many more. It will act as the driving force that will aid Asda to deliver an improvised experience to their consumers. Digital transformation aids them in driving innovation and keeping ahead of the competition. A strategy can be formulated by the organization to introduce, analyse and drive an initiative for bringing in digital transformation through which services and overall operations can be inclined (Ramadan et al. 2019).

Asda opted for making use of Workday for the management of internal people which will assist them in maintaining track of and looking into the operations of their global employees. The system utilized by the firm comprised absence management, benefits, human capital management, learning, recruiting, compensation, and prism analytics. It is liable for providing human resources with the tools for learning and developing new skills that will furnish respective skills for conducting their operations through business performance will be inclined and the team will be sharpened while delivering their services (Saani, 2019). The agile technology architecture of the workday will allow in to deal with the challenges of tomorrow through which significant support can be attained by the firm while delivering their operations (Moghrabi et al. 2023). During the pandemic crisis, Asda has expanded their trial partnership through which they can reach their potential consumers and they had partnered with Uber Eats. For digital age verification, they have opted for Yoti in the small locations so that they can conduct the self-checkout without interacting with the employee. The firm also utilised digital marketing displays to captivate huge market shares within the evolving marketplace (Bove and Benoit, 2020).

Digital Technologies Used by Asda

Asda has identified the digital platform through which they can understand the altering behaviour of their consumers and ensure that business continuity can be inclined (Saani, 2019).

SAP Ariba Solutions

The organization have opted to move their operation to RISE through the usage of SAP for providing a single and agile digital core platform for delivering simplification and automation of business processes within the cloud. Real-time insights and data can be attained regarding the inventory, process, and sales visibility that will allow the organization to reply to the behaviours and requirements of potential consumers and broaden the marketplace (Jiang et al. 2023). The SAP Ariba solutions enabled them to invoice, source, and buy the contracts through having spend analysis, performance & supply lifecycle, commerce automation and supplier risk. Through this Asda streamlined and standardised their procurement processes so that they can have inclined price optimization, supply chain visibility and data-driven intelligence. SAP is being considered by them for accessing the real-time information through which the retail and delivery experience of potential consumers can be inclined (Jelassi et al. 2020).

LP Technologies

The organization has recognised the data value and ability for viewing the complete shrink management ecosystem, and for this, they have utilized next-generation LP technologies that will assist in combatting the challenging environment. SMaaS (Sensormatic shrink management system) is being connected with Google cloud-based services. It assisted in furnishing the predictive analytics, and device management for managing the shrink to manage the root causes that occur while delivering their operations (Control, 2023). It enabled them to possess the capability for collecting data regarding the alarm that triggers and assist in the determination of the trends through which proactive measures can be taken for addressing future requirements. The user-friendly dashboards assist in determining the problems early and formulating better decisions.

Salesforce Technology

Asda has opted to utilize the Salesforce technology through which consumers are being provided with a 360-degree view of their consumers that provided them with tailored and personalized experiences. The organization can furnish their consumers with a better online shopping experience through the formulation of the e-commerce headless architecture that will allow them to separate or distinguish back-end and front-end e-commerce applications (RTIH, 2022). Asda can make use of the Managed Runtime technology and PWA (progressive web applications) for delivering their operations.

Development of the Application and Its Testing

Asda opted to have the agile approach for the development of the application and its testing which enabled the firm to respond quickly to the requirements of business and reduction of the time within the market for driving in inclined consumer satisfaction and experience. With the modernisation of the data platform and adoption of the DevOps operating model, the firm can break the siloes among internal IT teams and incline the visibility and acceleration of the innovative business process. Considering all the above information the swot analysis of Asda is provided in appendices.

The Top 3 Future Digital Challenges and Opportunities

The 3 digital challenges and opportunities that are being experienced by Asda are illustrated below:

Omnichannel Experience and Personalization

Challenge:

To satisfy customer expectations in the contemporary retail environment, Asda understands how important it is to offer a smooth omnichannel experience. Customers now anticipate a consistent and converged buying experience across several channels, including physical stores, websites, and mobile platforms, thanks to the rising popularity of e-commerce and mobile apps (Donnelly, 2020). However, achieving a seamless combination of data, systems, and procedures can be difficult, making it difficult to ensure consistency across all touchpoints. Asda must solve any issues that customers can run across when transferring between channels, such as disruptions or discrepancies. A customer might, for instance, begin their shopping session on the online shop, add things to their shopping cart, and then choose to finish the transaction in-store. If the information about the shopping basket and product availability is not consistent across every channel, it may frustrate the customer and make for a bad buying experience. With the growth of digitalization, tailored experiences have become more crucial for retaining and winning over customers (Walker, 2019). Customers anticipate customized advice, promotions, and marketing communications from brands that are aware of their interests. If you don't offer this level of customization, customers might look for alternatives from other businesses that can better meet their specific needs.

Opportunity

Asda can benefit from the test of omnichannel experience by utilizing computerized advancements to assemble and dissect client information. By putting resources into cutting-edge client examination and man-made AI advancements, Asda can acquire important experiences in client conduct, inclinations, and shopping designs. Using this information keenly will empower Asda to make customized shopping encounters custom-made to every client's singular inclination (Neurauter, 2022). Carrying out a hearty client relationship the board (CRM) framework will additionally upgrade Asda's capacity to construct solid associations with clients. By monitoring client collaborations, inclinations, and buy history, Asda can convey customized advancements and offers, reinforcing client unwaveringness and encouraging recurrent business. Besides, embracing a customer-centric approach and utilizing information-driven bits of knowledge will assist Asda with recognizing patterns and client inclinations, permitting them to calibrate their item grouping, evaluating methodologies, and showcasing endeavours. This degree of personalization won't just draw in new clients yet additionally guarantee that current clients make want more of a customized and great shopping experience.

Supply Chain Optimization and Sustainability

Challenge

Asda faces the test of enhancing its production network to stay aware of the consistently changing requests of clients and the advancing retail commercial centre. To live up to the assumptions of the present purchasers who look for moment delight, Asda needs to execute continuous stock administration and effective strategies to guarantee the convenient conveyance of items (Pérez-Mesa et al., 2021). Any deferrals or shortcomings in the production network can prompt stockouts, frustrated clients, and lost deals. Moreover, as manageability and moral contemplations gain unmistakable quality among purchasers, Asda should address the test of following and checking the whole store network. Customers need straightforwardness about the obtaining and creation cycles of the items they buy, and they are progressively attracted to brands that focus on natural and moral practices. Neglecting to measure up to these assumptions can prompt reputational harm and a deficiency of trust among ecologically cognizant purchasers.

Opportunity

Asda faces the test of enhancing its production network to stay aware of the consistently changing requests of clients and the advancing retail commercial centre. To live up to the assumptions of the present purchasers who look for moment delight, Asda needs to execute continuous stock administration and effective strategies to guarantee the convenient conveyance of items. Any deferrals or shortcomings in the production network can prompt stockouts, frustrated clients, and lost deals (Ali et al., 2021). As manageability and moral contemplations gain unmistakable quality among purchasers, Asda should address the test of following and checking the whole store network. Customers need straightforwardness about the obtaining and creation cycles of the items they buy, and they are progressively attracted to brands that focus on natural and moral practices. Neglecting to measure up to these assumptions can prompt reputational harm and a deficiency of trust among ecologically cognizant purchasers.

Data Security and Privacy

Challenge:

With the rising digitization of Asda's activities and the assortment of immense measures of client information, information security, and protection have become primary worries. Asda should protect delicate client data, conditional statements, and exclusive business information from digital dangers, information breaks, and unapproved access. A solitary security break can prompt extreme outcomes, including legitimate liabilities, powerful fines, reputational harm, and loss of client trust. Asda additionally needs to guarantee consistency with information insurance guidelines like the Overall Information Assurance Guideline (GDPR) (Jiang et al., 2023). The inability to agree with these guidelines can prompt legitimate punishments and further harm the organization's standing.

Opportunity

Asda can immediately jump all over the chance to construct client trust and dependability by focusing on information security and protection. Putting resources into strong network protection measures, like encryption, firewalls, and interruption discovery frameworks, will assist with bracing Asda's safeguard against digital dangers. Ordinary security reviews and weakness appraisals will guarantee that potential shortcomings are recognized and tended to instantly (Fotohi et al., 2020). Giving thorough preparation to workers on information insurance best practices and guaranteeing severe adherence to inner information security strategies will make a culture of information security inside the association. By imparting a feeling of obligation for information insurance among workers, Asda can diminish the probability of inward security breaks. Consenting to information security guidelines like GDPR won't just improve client trust yet in addition show Asda's obligation to be capable of information taking care and regard for client protection (Morton, 2023). Asda can use major areas of strength for its security and protection measures as a special selling point, separating itself from contenders and drawing in protection-cognizant clients.

Conclusion & Recommendations

Asda's approach toward digital transformation has been praised; it was primarily focused on giving its customers a smooth omnichannel experience and personalized products. Asda wants to respond to individual tastes by utilizing consumer data and analytics, leading to increased customer loyalty and retention. Asda ought to innovate for potential expansion by examining cutting-edge technologies and making research & development investments to further its digital transformation. Asda can foresee market trends and consistently react to changing client demands by aggressively looking for innovative solutions. Engagement with customers becomes crucial. Asda needs to seek out customer input actively, use it to improve its tactics and build deep relationships with customers through a variety of channels. Asda's continued leadership in digital innovation is mainly due to its partnerships with tech firms and start-ups. Strategic relationships enable Asda to access cutting-edge technologies and knowledge in fields like artificial intelligence and data analytics, advancing the business.

To successfully navigate the digital landscape, employers must provide staff with technological resources and abilities. Asda can increase operational effectiveness and provide top-notch customer service by investing in thorough training and upskilling. Asda should continue to be committed to sustainability and social responsibility. The company's brand image will be strengthened by persistently promoting eco-friendly methods and ethical sourcing, which will also appeal to socially concerned customers. Data security is still of utmost importance, and Asda must continue to take a watchful stance to protect client data. Strong data protection will be ensured through routine security updates, adherence to industry best practices, and keeping up with new cyber threats. Asda's drive toward digital transformation has created a solid platform for expansion and competition. Asda can firmly maintain its position as a key participant in the dynamic retail industry by constantly prioritizing customer-centric initiatives, streamlining the supply chain, maintaining data security, and adopting innovation and sustainability.

Reflective Statement

I have examined Asda's fascinating journey of digital transformation in this study, showing the numerous technological advances the company has used as well as the difficulties it has faced. The investigation has highlighted the exciting possibilities Asda might take advantage of to obtain a competitive advantage in the crowded market. I conducted a thorough assessment of the available research on digital transformation to ensure a full investigation and provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic. To present the facts coherently, I have kept a formal and objective tone throughout the entire report. have organized the text using subheadings to provide clarity and organization, leading the reader through the salient features of Asda's digital evolution. I have simply outlined the crucial areas where Asda must concentrate and the prospective possibilities it can investigate to support its digital ambitions while staying under the allotted word limit for the "3 future digital challenges and opportunities" section. This study provides insightful information about Asda's digital transformation process, acting as a helpful road map for the business to successfully negotiate the rapidly changing digital landscape. As the report's author, I've tried to provide a thorough and educational analysis that shines a light on the intriguing world of digital transformation and what it means for Asda's future development and success.

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