Preview

Online Grocery Business

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
10412 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Online Grocery Business
International Journal of Cases on Electronic Commerce, 1(2), 57-78, April-June 2005 57 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com

IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING

16#%%#

Building an Online Grocery Business:
The Case of asda.com
Irene Yousept, University of Newcastle upon Tyne Business School, UK Feng Li, University of Newcastle upon Tyne Business School, UK

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper uses the case of ASDA.com, ASDA’s home-shopping arm, to demonstrate the challenges in building and developing an online grocery business in the UK. To set the stage, the initial implementation and learning from phone/catalogue home-shopping in ASDA is outlined to demonstrate why e-commerce was seen as most economically suitable to conduct a grocery home-shopping business. Then the paper illustrates the development stages and critical aspects of ASDA.com’s Web shop. Particularly, it delineates the operational aspects of B2C e-commerce in the grocery business: fulfillment center and fulfillment process. The case will also describe ASDA’s efforts in overcoming problems with their home-shopping fulfillment model and present important elements of ASDA.com’s virtual store and its operation. The paper concludes with the challenges that ASDA.com has been facing, their current status, and future prospects. Keywords: B2C e-commerce; digital economy; distribution channels; e-business; e-commerce expansion; e-commerce implementation;e-commerce needs; e-commerce planning; e-commerce problems; e-grocery market; e-operation; e-retailing; e-tailing; electronic business; electronic retailing; electronic shopping; information economy; Internet commerce; Internet economy; online grocery shopping; online shopping; service industry; virtual shopping; Web shopping; Web site design; Web-based commerece

ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND
ASDA Stores Ltd. (http://www.asda.co.uk) was Britain’s second largest supermarket



References: BBC. (2003). ASDA overtakes Sainsbury’s. Retrieved January 2, 2005: http:// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3112689.stm Boyer, K.K., & Frohlich, M. (2002). Ocado: An alternative way to bridge the last mile in grocery home delivery. European Case Clearing House Collection (Vol. 602057-1, pp. 1-19). MI: Michigan State University. Boyer, K.K., Hult, T., Splinder, M., & Santoni, R. (2003). Bridging the last mile: Online shopping in UK and US. MIT Sloan School of Management. Delaney-Klinger, K., Boyer, K., & Frohlich, M. (2003). The return of online grocery shopping: A comparative analysis of Webvan and Tesco’s operational methods. The TQM Magazine, 15(3), 187-196. DTI. (1999). A guide to national minimum wage (No. Pub/5642/50K/9/01/AR). London: Department of Trade and Industry. Ellis, C. (2003). Lessons from online groceries. MIT Sloan Management Review, 44(2), 8. e-logistics. (2001, July-August). ASDA equips for home delivery roll-out. e-logistics Magazine, 13. Retrieved January 2, 2005: http://www.elogmag.com/magazine/ 13/asda.shtml Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. International Journal of Cases on Electronic Commerce, 1(2), 57-78, April-June 2005 77 Faragher, J. (2002, February). The information age interview - ASDA @t Home. Information Age, 6. Retrieved January 2, 2005: http://www.infoconomy.com/pages/ search/group47275.adp Fox, H. (2004). Investigation into the developing market with regards to the food sector. Unpublished BSc Thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne. Goddard, C. (2002, February 6). Store to door. Retrieved January 2, 2005: http:// www.revolution.com Grocer. (2004). From the shop floor to the front door: How Exel’s technical innovation helps ASDA makes its customers feel @home with its online shopping service. The Grocer, 227, 18. Hayward, S. (2004, March 7). Net shopping is really clicking. The Sunday Mirror, 40. Hoffman, W., Keedy, J., & Roberts, K. (2002). The unexpected return of B2B. The McKinsey Quarterly, 3, 000-000. IGD. (2004). Retail market overview factsheet. London: Institute of Grocery Distribution. Michaels, L. (2004). What’s wrong with supermarkets. Oxford: Corporate Watch. Mugan, C. (1999, July 9). ASDA online takes off. Super Marketing, 8. Punakivi, M., & Saranen, J. (2001). Identifying the success factors in e-grocery home delivery. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 29(4), 156-163. Punakivi, M., Yrjola, H., & Holmstrom, J. (2001). Solving the last mile issue: Reception box or delivery box. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics, 31(6), 427-239. Roberts, M., Xu, X.M., & Mettos, N. (2003). Internet shopping: Supermarket model and customer perceptions. Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organisations, 1(2), 32-43. Seybold, P.B. (2001). Get inside the lives of your customers. Harvard Business Review, 79(5), 80-89. Spence, I. (2002a). Case study: ASDA @t Home e-commerce fulfilment. Retrieved January 2, 2005: http://www.spenceco.com/Casestudy_Fulfilment.html Spence, I. (2002b). Case study: ASDA.com development. Retrieved January 2, 2005: http://www.spenceco.com/Casestudy_Asdadotcom.html Tanskanen, K., Yrjola, H., & Holmstrom, J. (2002). The way to profitable Internet grocery retailing – six lessons learned. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 30(2), 169-178. Wal-mart (1999). Annual Report. Bentonville: Wal-mart Stores Inc. Walton, S. (1992). Made in America: My story. New York: Bantam Books. Whalley, S. (1999, January 15). ASDA @t Home trial is ready for rollout. Super Marketing, 1. Yousept, I., & Li, F. (2004, June 21-23). Online supermarkets: Emerging strategies and business models. Proceedings of the 17th Bled E-Commerce Conference, Bled, Slovenia. Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. 78 International Journal of Cases on Electronic Commerce, 1(2), 57-78, April-June 2005 Yrjola, H. (2001). Physical distribution consideratios for electronic home shopping. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics, 31(10), 746-761. Zairi, M. (1998). Best practice in supply chain management: The experience of the retail sector. European Journal of Innovation Management, 1(2), 58-66. Irene Yousept is currently a full-time PhD researcher at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne Business School, UK, funded by the Overseas Research Scholarship. She holds a BEng (Honors) with cum laude in industrial engineering from the University of Trisakti, Indonesia, and an MSc with distinction in business IT systems from the University of Strathclyde, UK. She was a teaching assistant for e-business module. Her research interests include emerging business models and strategies in the information economy, particularly in retail banking and supermarkets. Miss Yousept has worked closely with UK leading companies in banking and retailing. She has been a reviewer for a number of journals and conferences. Her recent work in Internet banking has won the best paper prize in e-business and technology management in British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference. Feng Li is chair of e-business at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne Business School, UK. His research has focused on the interactions between information systems and emerging strategies, business models, and organizational designs. He is the author of two books and numerous journal articles, and he speaks regularly at international conferences and to business executives from both the private and public sectors. Professor Li is a member of several programs on ICTs, e-commerce/e-business, supply chain/value chain, and virtual teams. He has worked closely with companies in banking, telecommunications, manufacturing, retailing, electronics as well as the public sectors. He is the e-business SIG chair in British Academy of Management (BAM). His recent works on Internet banking and on telecommunications pricing models and value networks have been extensively reported by the media. Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Dillards Swot

    • 1786 Words
    • 8 Pages

    COPYRIGHT MARKETLINE. THIS CONTENT IS A LICENSED PRODUCT AND IS NOT TO BE PHOTOCOPIED OR DISTRIBUTED.…

    • 1786 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    No part of this document may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the copyright holder.…

    • 3304 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Capstone Project Bus599

    • 2781 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The Internet has changed the way that we perceive business and the way that we as consumers may make our purchases. In fact, the online consumer today knows the convenience of purchasing a book online and having it delivered to their door in a matter of a few days. There is no more need to fight crowds, find a parking spot, and deal with traffic. The high street and mail order systems still have a place in the mix of purchase routes; however it is no longer the only method of making purchases. The Internet revolution has seen a massive increase in the long distance purchases made by consumers, as geographical barriers are no longer as important as they were. The lack of geographical importance has influenced the strategy of Internet companies. One of the first companies that took advantage of this was the online bookshop Amazon.com.…

    • 2781 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    COPYRIGHT MARKETLINE. THIS CONTENT IS A LICENSED PRODUCT AND IS NOT TO BE PHOTOCOPIED OR DISTRIBUTED.…

    • 9838 Words
    • 40 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Medical Billing

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages

    All rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including input into or storage in any information system, without permission in writing from the publisher.…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    kellogg's

    • 10224 Words
    • 62 Pages

    COPYRIGHT MARKETLINE. THIS CONTENT IS A LICENSED PRODUCT AND IS NOT TO BE PHOTOCOPIED OR DISTRIBUTED.…

    • 10224 Words
    • 62 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    L'Oreal

    • 8748 Words
    • 35 Pages

    COPYRIGHT MARKETLINE. THIS CONTENT IS A LICENSED PRODUCT AND IS NOT TO BE PHOTOCOPIED OR DISTRIBUTED.…

    • 8748 Words
    • 35 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This publication is copyright. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act no part of it may in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior written permission of the publisher.…

    • 4216 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Tesco

    • 4970 Words
    • 20 Pages

    Leading UK supermarket group, Tesco, can serve millions of Internet customers with home deliveries from its of its stores. In doing this it is not alone – its main rivals, ASDA and Sainsbury’s, also offer home deliveries driven by orders over the Internet. Tesco also runs an on-line bookshop. These are recent developments which have been facilitated by the power and potential of information technology (IT). Price cutting, an important competitive strategy in retailing, does not truly distinguish one food retailer from another, as price cuts can be followed by rivals, although creative advertising can suggest a price differential when one really does not exist. Supply-chain cost savings, also facilitated by IT, however, can be an important source of advantage and improved profitability. This case looks at how Tesco exploited IT in the early 1990s to drive competitive advantage. Since the case was written in 1996 events have moved on, but the basic strategic issues raised here remain pertinent and relevant. Tesco, for example, now shares live sales information with its suppliers and, by embracing IT themselves, more and more suppliers are linked electronically to Tesco. Again using the power of the Internet, e-markets allow any retailer to post up ‘confidential’ information but limit access to it through password-driven ‘firewalls’. Going beyond the advantages discussed in this case, the Internet allows retailers to invite suppliers to engage in bids or auctions when either the retailer has a specific shortage or a supplier has excess inventory. This case has two themes:…

    • 4970 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Marketing Mix

    • 11522 Words
    • 64 Pages

    COPYRIGHT MARKETLINE. THIS CONTENT IS A LICENSED PRODUCT AND IS NOT TO BE PHOTOCOPIED OR DISTRIBUTED.…

    • 11522 Words
    • 64 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Global Online Retail

    • 7787 Words
    • 54 Pages

    The global online retail sector grew by 21.4% in 2014 to reach a value of $986.7 billion.…

    • 7787 Words
    • 54 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Copyright © 2015, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    PRINCIPLES OF MATHEM ATICAL ANALYSIS McGR1\W-HILL BOOK COMPANY Auckland Bogota Guatemala Hamburg Lisbon London Madrid Mexico Ne\v Delhi Panama Paris Sao Pau lo Singapore Sydney Tokyo WALTER RUDIN Professor of Mathematics University of Wisconsin-Madison Principles of Mathematical Analysis THIRD EDITION San Juan PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS, Third Edition International Editions 1976…

    • 127301 Words
    • 1025 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This publication is copyright. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act no part of it may in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior written permission of the publisher.…

    • 1500 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ootd

    • 30201 Words
    • 121 Pages

    R ep ro d u ced with p erm ission o f th e copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited w ithout perm ission.…

    • 30201 Words
    • 121 Pages
    Powerful Essays