Business Operations And Management

RUNNING HEAD: BUSINESS OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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Question 1: To grow, how should the two retailers confront each other and
build their Omni-channel operations?
Amazon and Walmart have been two of the most successful business organisation in
the retailer’s industry. The retailer’s industry has been changing its shape due to the business
operation style of these two companies. Several business organisations of this industry were
driven out by the business operation and growth of these two organisations. The provided
case study discusses the business operation style of these two companies. In this part, the way
these two organisations develop their Omni-channel operations by confronting each other
will be addressed.
Amazon is the largest online retail business organisation in this world. In comparison
with Walmart, the most significant competitor of Amazon, Amazon is one third the size of
Walmart regarding the revenue in 2017. Customer orientation, supplier-retailer relationships,
the implication of technology have helped this organisation to change the terms and
conditions of the retail industry. Due to the different focus, these two organisations did not
compete with each other directly. Walmart is mainly brick and mortar retail, and Amazon is
primarily prominent in the online ecommerce sector. For Omni-channel retailing, customer
preference is changing. To accomplish a competitive advantage, Amazon is expanding its
retail business towards brick and mortar presence (Petro 2017). It will help this organisation
to maintain a high rate of growth. The customer preference for Omni-channel retailing is
leading to an intense confront between these two companies. Failure to address customer
preference will create an adverse impact on the business organisation. Amazon's authority is
interested in developing the requisite capabilities to deliver an appropriate Omni-channel
shopping experience for the consumers. To provide better customer experience, Amazon is
focused on improving technology, innovative marketing, and strategic acquisitions. However,

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the massive amount of money is invested by this organisation to develop offline existence
Amazon. It will help the business organisation to provide better customer experience to
potential customers. The physical expansion of Amazon will provide product categories like
grocery and apparel for the customer. It will help the company to connect with the customer
appropriately. For the betterment of physical expansion, this organisation has started many
innovative actions like pick up location, delivery and return of products for the customer.
Through appropriate acquisition with a partner and an efficient strategic plan, Amazon started
its physical expansion. By 2017, this organisation established 330 fulfilment centre in the
USA, which is more than 145 million square feet of space (Cao 2014).
On the other hand, Walmart is the undisputed retail market leader of the USA. This
organisation provides groceries, general merchandise, and health products through 157
centres. The distribution system, followed by this organisation contains 6100 tractors, 61000
trailers, and more than 7800 drivers are the largest distribution network (Miller and Clifford
2013). Primarily this organisation provides the best offline shopping experience to the
customers by maintaining low product prices. However, to fulfil the customer preference, this
organisation started investing essential e-capabilities of the company. After 2015, the
management team of Walmart began to invest in the ecommerce sector by curtailing the
investment of offline stores. This organisation is expanding its online existence by investing
in online grocery, pick up towers, improvement of technologies, renovation of supply chain
facility, and expansion of grocery delivery location. The senior management team of this
company identified that technological improvement could be a significant part of improving
customer experience. A big data analytics team is hired by this company to improve
technology. For the ecommerce expansion, this organisation acquired an innovative
ecommerce company named Jet.com and retain the most experienced leader named Marc

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Lore as a CEO. The mobile shopping platform of this company is providing an Omni-channel
experience for the customer.
Question 2: What has been their past success in the playing field of their
nemesis?
Amazon, one of the largest online retail business organisation, has started building its
physical existence to fulfil customer demand. Besides of its ecommerce business, this
organisation is prioritising the physical expansion through product categories like grocery
and apparel. These initiatives were taken by the senior management team of Amazon to
enhance the control and presence in the offline market. To improve the physical expansion,
the management team of this company has launched several innovative programs, which
were pick up location, delivery procedure, and item return services. To accomplish success,
this organisation has to beat business organisation like Walmart, who is leading offline retail
business organisation in the USA. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, invested $13.7 billion to
enter the Whole Food Market (KUMAR and BHARDWAJ 2018). This initiative of this
company was one of the boldest entry in the brick-and-mortar retail business of 2017. In
2016, the treasure truck fleet was launched by this company. Must have products were carried
by these trucks of Amazon and by using mobile application customer can select the product
and pay for it. The attainment of this initiative helped the company to expand its business.
Within two years of launching this organisation has comprised thirty-five trucks for twenty-
five US cities and twelve UK cities (KUMAR and BHARDWAJ 2018). Every product is
available in this ecommerce business organisation. At present, the targeted customers of this
company are both online customers and offline customers. This approach will support the
company to expand its business not only online but also in offline business. To understand
the customers, this organisation stepped into the whole food groceries. To attract potential
offline customers, Amazon reduced the price of whole food by 25-50 % (KUMAR and

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BHARDWAJ 2018). This organisation has started offering high quality groceries, organic
products, and locally sourced products at low costs to its offline customers. This organisation
launched Amazon Go Store for its customers. This store contains an automated convenience
store without a checkout for its offline customer. It will help the customer to save time. This
organisation is successful in the ecommerce business sector. With innovative ideas, this
organisation has the potential to improve its offline presence. The success rate in the offline
sector will lead the company to control the offline market.
Walmart is the most potent and largest retailer on earth. This organisation is interested
in expanding its business in the online sector. The limited success of the online ecommerce
over 2000-2014, helped the authority of this company to understand that improvement of the
e-capabilities are necessary for Walmart to compete with Amazon. As a result of this, since
2015, this organisation prioritised technological advancement instead of its offline presence.
In 2018, this organisation had successfully expanded its presence in the online ecommerce
sector. In 2018, the online business growth of this company enhanced more than forty per
cent. The total revenue earned by this company in 2018 was $128.03 billion (KUMAR and
BHARDWAJ 2018). The success in online business helps the company to maximise its
product in the online sector. More the 1100 brands are added by the company to improve its
online ecommerce business (KUMAR and BHARDWAJ 2018). Besides its offline presence,
this organisation is providing extra benefits to its consumers through online business.
Physical locations for the customers are created by this company. This company stated that
seven hundred automated in-store pickups would be established for the benefits of the
customers. It can be said that like its offline presence, this organisation is improving as an
online ecommerce business organisation (DEAGON 2018). Though this ecommerce, this
organisation will reach the maximum number of customers and deliver products at a low cost.

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Walmart is successfully creating a mark in the online ecommerce business. Though the online
and offline presence, this organisation will acquire the business market in the future.
Question 3: How does the marketing strategy of the two retailers differ?
In this part, the marketing strategy of Amazon will be discussed. In 2019, the
management team of this company has modified its marketing strategy. The marketing
strategy of Amazon is modified by prioritising on three primary elements, which are the
product, paid marketing strategy, and organic marketing strategy. This company is the
superiority of Amazon is prioritised by the company. To attract new customers both from the
online and offline business area, this company promoting paid marketing strategies. Video
advertisements, display advertisements, and headline searches are part of the marketing
campaign of Amazon (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015). Promoting the ads and campaigns through
an entirely organic way is conducted by the company. The organic marketing campaign will
help the company to influence potential customers. To develop the marketing strategy, this
company has utilised its experience, research and prior success. Analyse of Amazon’s
marketing strategy will identify a few steps. In the first step, the company aligns keyword
research and searcher content. It will help the company to target maximum customers, attract
the customers with a simple click and enhance more sales of the company. The customer
segmentation part of this company is managed by the senior marketing team of this company.
In the second part, the company organises the product listing optimisation part. Not only the
company but also the users will get help from this part. To accomplish a competitive
advantage, this organisation analyse the market and competitors. In the next step, the
management team of Amazon will analyse and develop competitor listings. In the next level,
Amazon develops the product and maintain its quality. In this part, the market share of the
company is analysed. This company follows a marketing strategy that promotes the organic
approach. The variety of products at low cost and quality of the product are maintained by the

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company to generate customer loyalty (Amazon SEO Consultant 2019). To improve the
delivery system, the research and development department of this company takes several
innovative initiatives. These initiatives not only support the customers but also help the
company to improve its brand reputation.
In this part, the marketing strategy of Walmart will be analysed. The core marketing
strategy of this company provides a massive volume of products at a lower price
(Mourdoukoutas 2019). This strategy helps the company to accomplish a competitive
advantage. To maintain the supply chain, influence the employees, strategic placement of the
products are controlled by the senior management team of this company by following this
marketing strategy. This marketing strategy is supported by the employees and the authority
of the company to improve its offline business and technological improvement. The core
marketing of this company focused on providing a vast amount of products at a low cost. The
marketing strategy of Walmart has certain goals. The first one is that the employees of this
company are treated as assets. Employees of Walmart are supported by the company as it will
help the company to improve its business performance and customer care service. This
organisation encourages its employees to increase the business. The second one is, this
company believes in continuous growth without stagnation (Mourdoukoutas 2019). The
marketing team and authority of this company believe that innovative ideas can help the
company to achieve competitive advantages. Continuous improvement in technology will
help the company to improve both its online and offline business. To obtain the goal, this
company provides innovative ideas and improved technologies to its employees. The third
one is supporting its community partner to improve its business growth (Noda 2015). The
marketing strategy of this company provide priority to the brand reputation and invest money
to make the earth a better place for human beings. The senior marketing team of Walmart and
authority prepared the marketing strategy which will help the company to expand and

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improve its business. At first, this company provides low cost products to the customer so
that the customer believes that he is getting the value of the money. The second one is
providing improved customer service to the customer as it will help the company to create
customer loyalty. The last one is to become a one-stop-shop for its consumers which can
provide convenience too for the consumers.
Question 4: What are the distinctive capabilities of each retailer, and how
does this either help or hinder their ability to evolve for an Omni-channel
future effectively?
In this part, the distinctive capabilities of Amazon will be discussed, and the impact of
these unique capabilities for the Omi-channel future. One of the most significant distinctive
capacity of this company is its advanced technology. By recruiting technical experts, this
company does several innovative innovations for service and products. The second distinct
capability of Amazon is the large economy scale. The management team of this company
produces various types of products for the customers. Consumers of this ecommerce business
organisation have the opportunity to choose the product from multiple products (Kantor and
Streitfeld 2015). The company aims to provide A to Z products through an online ecommerce
business. The third distinctive capability of this company is its efficient workforce. The
highly-talented workforce of Amazon is helpful; for the company to improve the business
operation and products. The global business of this company is useful for the company to
maximise its popularity. In the global ecommerce market, Amazon is a very famous name
due to its product variety. The fourth distinctive capability if this company is its efficient
management team (Afuah 2013). The management team develops the marketing strategy and
business operation approach by maintaining profit and sustainability. The unique capacity is
helpful for the company to create an Omni-channel business as this organisation is a

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reputable business organisation and well-known ecommerce company. Customer loyalty and
brand reputation are beneficial for the company to maintain the Omni-channel business
(Chopra 2016). However, the distinctive capabilities of this company are hinder for the
company in a certain situation. In the online presence, this company provides every product
for the customer. But, in an offline presence, it is difficult for the company to provide every
product in an offline store.
In this part, the distinctive capabilities of Walmart and the role of these distinctive
capabilities for the Omni-channel business will be discussed. The core competency of
Walmart is its buying power, efficient management of supply chain, and logistical superiority
(Fawcett and Waller 2013). The distinctive capabilities of this company support Walmart to
sell products at low cost to its customers. The buying power of Walmart plays a significant
role in determining product prices. The large scale business of this company supports the
company in buying a vast amount of products and sells the products at low cost to its
customers. The customer of this company feels that the products of this company provide the
value of the money. The efficient supply chain management of this company is helpful for the
company to manage the business operation by maintaining the sustainability and profits for
the company. The experience, the previous success guide the management team to manage
the supply chain. Lastly, the most significant distinctive capability of this company is its
superior logistics procedure (Ladd 2018). A retail link is followed by the company, which
helps Walmart to operate in different countries. These core competency of Walmart is helpful
for the company to maintain the Omni-channel business. The brand reputation and customer
loyalty and low priced products of Walmart play a supportive role for this company to
manage the Omni-channel business efficiently (Lim, Wang and Srai 2017). The distinctive
capabilities of Walmart can be hinder the company from managing the Omni-channel. To
compete with ecommerce business organisation, this organisation has to improve technology

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and its delivery system. It is difficult for the company to provide every product in the offline
stores. This organisation has to manage these issues to maintain a successful business.
Question 5: What are the financial implications of the Omni-channel
transformation for each retailer?
The business performance of a company can be hampered financially to maintain the
Omni-channel business. In this part, the management team of Amazon has to manage the
financial impact on the business operation. This organisation has successfully managed its
online business throughout the world. However, to gain competitive advantages, this
organisation has to imply innovative ideas. The delivery system is modified with creative
ideas. To modify the business operation, this organisation has to invest a vast amount of
money (Murfield et al. 2017). The research and development department of Amazon is
developing several innovative ideas. The organisation is implying those innovative ideas in
the business operation. Amazon is improving its delivery system and make the delivery
system and efficient and less time-consuming service to improve its service. This
organisation is interested in expanding its offline business. To do that, this organisation has to
create offline stores for the customer. The offline store will help the company to understand
the customer’s product buying behaviour. In the offline store of Amazon, the customer can
buy the product after checking the products. Through this initiative, this organisation can
target customers who do not prefer online shopping. This organisation has to expand its
offline presence to fulfil customer demand.
In this part, the financial impact on the business operation of Walmart will be
discussed. This company is successful in the offline retail business. The core competency of
this company is that the low price of the products is offered by the company. The demand of
the customer is managed by this company successfully. To maintain a proper delivery system

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and maintain offline stores, this company has to spend a vast amount of money. However,
this company has realised that online ecommerce can be an excellent opportunity for the
company if it is managed efficiently (Keen and Williams 2013). That is the reason this
organisation has started investing in the technological improvement of the company. This
organisation has to acquire Jet.com to expand its online presence. A data analytics team is
hired by this company to understand customer demand for online marketing. It can be said
that the business operation of Walmart can be hampered by the burden of financial issues.
The management team of the company has to maintain its offline stores and its delivery
system (Melacini and Tappia 2018). Along with that, this company has to spend a vast
amount of money on improving the technology and expanding its online presence. However,
the business scale of Walmart and its success rate of this company is supporting the
management team to resolve the financial issues efficiently. It can be said that this
organisation has the potential to manage both the online and offline business appropriately

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Chopra, S., 2016. How omni-channel can be the future of retailing. Decision, 43(2), pp.135-
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