Emerging Themes in the Usage of Drones in Sainsbury

This report discusses the usage of drones in the organization Sainsbury and the affect of this emerging theme upon the appropriateness of the existing policies and practices of the organization. It evaluates the effects of the theme in Sainsbury and provides recommendations for improving the drone delivery system.

Running head: EMERGING THEMES
Emerging Themes
[Name of the Student]
[Name of the University]
[Author note]

1EMERGING THEMES
Table of Contents
Introduction:...................................................................................................................2
Task 1: Theme affecting the organizational policies and practices: Sainsbury.............2
Technological advancement:......................................................................................2
Demographic changes:...............................................................................................3
Task 2: Evaluation of the effects of the theme in Sainsbury:........................................4
Effects on the Stock and Inventory:.......................................................................4
Security:.................................................................................................................5
Consumer shopping behavior:................................................................................5
Marketing photography:.........................................................................................5
Drone Delivery system:..........................................................................................6
Challenges that are likely to be faced by the Sainsbury:.......................................7
Task 3: Recommendations for Improving the drone delivery system: Sainsbury.........9
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................10
References:...................................................................................................................11

2EMERGING THEMES
Introduction:
Drones or the unmanned aerial vehicles are the aircrafts which are not having any
human pilot aboard. Drones are generally considered to be one of the components of the UAS
or the unmanned aircraft system. There exists a ground-based controller along with a system
of communication between the controller and the UAV. This are the flights which generally
operates by having different degree of autonomy which means it is either under remote
control by a specific human operator or in an autonomous way by the onboard computers
(Manfredi et al. 2018). This report would be discussing about the usage of this new emerging
technology in the organization Sainsbury. The report would also be discussing about the
affect of this emerging theme upon the appropriateness of the existing policies and practices
of the organization. Basically, two of the major area where the report would be focusing is
the technological advancements and the
In the later section of the report the identified theme that is the usage of the drones in
retail industry would be discussed along with the affect that it would eb having upon the
operational and the strategic decision-making process which are necessary for the purpose of
shaping the organization (Stolaroff et al. 2018). Contemporary examples would also be used
so as to address the emerging themes. Recommendations are provided in the last section
justified recommendations are provided.
Task 1: Theme affecting the organizational policies and practices:
Sainsbury
Technological advancement:
Usage of drone is surely a technological advancement as the Drones are generally one
of the most promising unmanned aerial vehicles which would be revolutionizing the entire

3EMERGING THEMES
delivery system of retail from fast to ultra-fast delivery system, beyond the limitation of
resources, transportation vehicles and road traffic, drones would be taking the entire
responsibility of doing rapid parcel delivery which would thereby increasing the overall
efficiency as well as safety of the entire system (Feng and Murray 2018). Drone is the one of
the most important and emerging technology that is a huge technical advancement and is
being reflected in the retail industry (Bae et al. 2016). Despite of the fact that e-commerce has
immensely been associated with changing the behavioral pattern of shopping of the
customers, several bricks and mortar stores have been associated with the adaptation of new
innovative technology like drones. This is the technological advancement that would be
bringing tremendous benefits for the Sainsbury in the form of shipping which would be
cheaper and faster (Bandyopadhyay, Singh and Fry 2018). Along with this it would also be
accelerating the growth of the entire retail store sales of Sainsbury as the free and the fast
process of shipping would be acting as the most enticing factor responsible for drawing the
consumers to do more online shopping more often.
Demographic changes:
Drones would be used for the purpose of goods from the local retailers and from the
fulfillment centers as well. Drones have been responsible for huge demographic changes in
the retail industry. One such example is Amazon which is notorious in terns of the innovation
within the space and while focusing upon fulfillment as well as the logistics (Carlson and
Larco 2017). Some of the economic impacts which are associated with the usage of the UAV
includes the creation of jobs along with billion-dollar growth. Along with the logistical and
privacy concerns wildlife like the birds would also be facing a higher amount of risk with
increased number of Ariel vehicles. In a similar fashion the making deliveries with drone are
bound to face a lot of issues (Chopra 2018). Traditional postal services maintain liability of
damaged or stolen property incurred in the delivery process. However, without human

4EMERGING THEMES
monitoring, a drone is unable to ensure seamless deliveries. A lot of logistical roadblocks are
likely to be faced while using delivery drones.
Task 2: Evaluation of the effects of the theme in Sainsbury:
Some of the major affects that the theme is going to have upon the operational and
strategic decision-making process of Sainsbury so as to shape the organization within the
broad sector in next five years have been listed below along way by which the Drones would
be shaking up Sainsbury. Usage of potential drones would be associated with making real
changes along wit helping the stores as well as the customers to have a shopping experience
which is better.
Effects on the Stock and Inventory:
The warehouse of Sainsbury is managed mostly by human. People working in the
warehouse of Sainsbury are responsible for bringing the items inside the warehouse along
with moving around of the large amount of stocks by making use of the forklifts and other
heavy equipment’s. this are again moved when there is a need of shipping the products to the
customers or whenever they are brought out to the floor for stocking (Skiver and Godfrey
2017). The usage of the drones would be having a huge impact in this particular area
whenever there is a need of moving the products around. For example, using the drone would
help the warehouse in becoming much more feasible so as to start building upward, which
would help in addition of more space and because of the reason that the drones are capable of
flying it helps in reaching the items placed high above (Parsons and Descatoires 2016).
Drones would be programmed so as to learn about the floor layout of Sainsbury and to learn
about the location of the products. Usage of the drones would be helping in fast securing and
locating of items than the humans. Insides the stores of Sainsbury, the drones would work so

5EMERGING THEMES
as to make sure that the floor is always stocked, along with bringing new items inside the
stores whenever the stocks run low.
Security:
Security is one of the big concerns of Sainsbury. The drones would be having the
capability of reaching any where inside the store premises and this would be helping in
having a constant surveillance over the areas which are most important to deter any kind of
break ins. Besides this the drones are also capable of finding someone who is not supposed to
be present in a particular area. Once they have detected any suspicious individual, they would
alert the authority along with continual surveillance of the thief in question. They function in
such an accurate way that even the human guards are also not capable of doing
(Vallandingham et al. 2018). Drones act like dogs and once they are set loose to track
someone then they would fly and make use of the thermal imaging so as to see anyone even if
that individual is hiding somewhere. Drones would be boosting up the security of Sainsbury.
Consumer shopping behavior:
Drones are having the capability of going at high levels along with the capability of moving
freely. In case when they are equipped with a camera then they automatically become more
useful for the retailers than the fixed cameras in the walls or ceilings of the store. Drones
would be playing a vital role in understanding the customer behavior (Rodríguez, Paredes and
Yi 2016). They are having the capability of looking into the customers from the top and this
would help in studying the ways in which the shoppers are moving inside the store and this in
turn would help in gaining a better idea about how the floor space can be laid out.
Marketing photography:
Like other retailers Sainsbury also always needs to keep the photos of the shoppers for
marketing purpose. Using professional photographers for this purpose is very much

6EMERGING THEMES
expensive and besides this the cameras fixed in the walls are also not positioned accordingly
so as to take the best shot (Ma, Selby and Adib 2017). Usage of the drones can help in
grabbing a bird’s eye shot from the ceiling or from a floor level as to have photos of lower
elevation.
Drone Delivery system:
Drones would be playing a vital role in the delivery process and besides this involving
the usage of drones in the delivery process would make the lives of consumers become much
better. The usage of the drones would be providing help to Sainsbury in two ways. Firstly, the
customers would be getting their product more quickly than the current delivery time. The
customers would be capable of doing window shopping and their product would be delivered
by a friendly looking drone in just few minutes or hours rather than taking days (Lawson,
2017). Secondly the way by which Sainsbury would be benefited is that the cost would be
lowered. The use of drones would be cutting the cost needed for delivery. By taking the
delivery process in their own hands, Sainsbury would save some money and this in turn
would help them in using the money for offering products to the customers at even lower
price.
Usage of the drones for delivery of the goods would be facing lot of logistic
challenges. These challenges are responsible for making the process of door-to-door delivery
on a large scale very difficult (Gillespie, 2015). However, the usage of drone’s delivery
system would be making a lot of sense in markets having large stretches of land or
mountainous terrains or islands. Drones would be used in the stores with an aim of reducing
the delivery time along with cutting the cost. Drone usage would be bringing a lot of benefit
for Sainsbury as well as for consumers (Rai, Verlinde and Macharis 2018). Usage of the
drones would be helping a lot in covering more ground in a small-time span. In addition to

7EMERGING THEMES
this the usage of drones also provides a seamless and quick experience which would b
responsible for increasing the brand loyalty as well.
Besides the benefits it is essential for Sainsbury to use the drones inside the stores
before they use this technology for flying to the front door of the customer. Drones would be
used so as to secure the warehouses along with securing the store perimeters by having video
surveillance. Additionally, the drones would be aiding in selection of sites and construction
management of Sainsbury as well (Paes, Pastore and de Mello 2017). This usage of the
drones would be helping Sainsbury in increasing their efficiency along with increased
customer satisfaction.
Challenges that are likely to be faced by the Sainsbury:
Along with the benefits of using the drones, Sainsbury is also likely to face a lot of
hurdles so as to whirr over the before these drones drop the last-minute delivery (von Briel
2018). This challenges ranges from calculating the exact place where to drop the packages to
prevention of system hacking. Some of the major challenges are listed below:
1. Order staging: This means before the orders are shipped to any of the customers,
they need to be assembled in one of the staging or docking area of the warehouse where the
product is to be loaded into the trucks (Chua and Yoo 2018). In case of drones the docking
process of Sainsbury need to be redesigned and might be requiring a lot of changes in the
process by which the picked to deliver a particular order. This would become a major
challenge for Sainsbury if they use the drones. This type of change is not a small one and the
major reason lying behind this is that all the processes existing in Sainsbury need to be
redesigned so as to support the drones (Center 2016). Support is also to be provided to the
employees who would be requiring a lot of training about this new process in order to make
the drone delivery system become successful.

8EMERGING THEMES
2. Weight limit. The drones are capable of lifting products and supporting the orders
which are having a certain weight and for this reason Sainsbury might be requiring the
splitting of the orders into multiple shipments and this would be increasing the cost of
delivery and besides this it would also be needing some type of offset or passed down to the
customers.
3. Drop ship vendors. In case if Sainsbury makes use of the use drop ship vendors
then it needs to make an investment in the drone delivery system (Cox et al. 2016). This
would be associated with providing support to faster delivery and also to remain competitive,
or Sainsbury needs to have a look for other options.
4. Distance limit. Drones are having the capability of traveling up to a certain
distance (Ham 2018). For this reason, Sainsbury might be requiring the need of loading the
drones as well as the product in a delivery vehicle and the drone can loaded with the product
can only be used if the delivery vehicle reaches the defined radius so as to make deliveries to
the customer.
5. Requires investment. The implementation of the drone delivery system in
Sainsbury would be requiring a lot of investment (Jovicic 2016). However, this type of
investment would become a bigger strain for them and might also require the appointment of
third-party services who uses the drones.
6. Shipping big-ticket items. Drones are having the capability of flying only few
hundred feet above the ground and for this reason they might face numerous threats like
threat from the thieves who are having the intension of stealing the merchandise product
(Barnes 2016). So it is very much essential for Sainsbury to consider this aspect before
implementing the drone delivery system.

9EMERGING THEMES
7. Weather restrictions. In case if any of the customer of Sainsbury signs up for
having a fast delivery by making use of the drone delivery system then it must be delivered to
the customer regardless of the weather condition (Narkus-Kramer 2017). Drones are not at all
suitable for usage in inclement weather, which includes the snowfall, hail, rain, and high
winds, and this would also be associated with delaying the delivery of the product to the
customer.
8. Uninterrupted service. Drones are considered to be the machinery which can fail
(Mittendorf, Franzmann and Ostermann 2017). In case if this failure happens then it is
presumed that there is a need of sending another delivery drone and besides this Sainsbury
also must think of how they can recollect the drone which is broken or can write it off as a
loss.
Task 3: Recommendations for Improving the drone delivery system:
Sainsbury
Integrating of the delivery drones along with the other advanced technologies would
be helping a lot one such example is the driverless vehicle which would be loaded with the
parcels by means of robotics at the warehouse of Sainsbury which in turn would
automatically be associated with dispatching of the multiple delivery drones when ever
reaches near the most efficient point so as to complete the process of delivery. This vehicle
would be acting as the ground base station for the drones that are responsible for delivering
the products to the customers. The cars would also be acting as the charging point of the
drones along with acting as a payload swapper according to the requirements. However, this
is the scenario is facing specific problems due to the technical and regulatory issues. All these
challenges include the pointless flying and Beyond Visual Line of Site or BVLOS in the
areas which are congested and are integrating with the users of airspace.

10EMERGING THEMES
Small and potentially low operating cost drones would be helping a lot in redesigning
the distributed delivery network of Sainsbury. This redesigning would be helping a lot in
gaining an increased rate of efficiency along with lower cost of delivery. This in turn would
be associated with driving the online ordering process. However, the way of reshaping the
logistical network is not yet known but the patents files and the test examples provided in
recent days are great example of increasing the possibility of using the drones for delivery
purpose.
It is possible for delivering the products by making use of the autonomous drones if
only the legal as well as the technical hurdles are overcome and besides this drones is the
technology that is capable of doing more things than just replacing the current human
delivery system or delivery done by the errand runners or short distance carriers.
Conclusion:
The report puts forward a big question that is the usage of drone in Sainsbury is viable
and scalable. the traveling of the drones in ideal routes having ideal conditions in urban areas
is one big thing for drone delivery system. Yet for transforming the drone delivery there is
need of variety of condition where numerous drones would be flying ate the same time. One
of the biggest challenge that is likely to eb faced by the future drone delivery system in
Sainsbury is the safety and making all the drones work together at the same time,, any of the
drone of Sainsbury which would be flying over the areas consisting of high population needs
to have the capability of handling everything which would be including the trees to kites to
freak events such as dropping of fish by a eagle it caught and many more. Before investing a
huge investment in the drone delivery system, Sainsbury must believe the fact that using this
technology would be helping a lot in overcoming all the hurdles and must expect that this
would be used on a wide scale in coming years. One big question still lies that is weather the

11EMERGING THEMES
flying of drones would ever become and widely used and think of the autonomous ground-
based robots associated with delivery are considered to a path forward. In short it can be
concluded that the usage of eth Drone technology sounds very exciting but in reality, the
usage of the drone would be bringing a lot of challenges along with advantages.

12EMERGING THEMES
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