Advantages and Key Trends of Digital Technology in Digital Business

This report discusses the advantages and key trends of digital technology in digital business. It explores how digitalization enhances customer experience, improves decision-making, and encourages innovation. The report also examines the impact of digital technology on collaborative business relationships and strategic alliances. Additionally, it discusses the utilization of e-commerce principles in digital business.

INDIVIDUAL REPORT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Digital business are enterprise which depend upon the technology for their operations and
growth. The aim of an e-commerce business has been buying and selling of products and
services over the internet with the help of mobile shopping online payment and also encryption.
The key trends and advantages of the digital technology on the management and operations of
the business was discussed in this project. In this project the emerging business models has been
discussed. This project also evaluated the impact of new collaborative relationship of strategic
alliances in a digital business. The utilization of the e-commerce principles are discussed.

TABLE OF CONTENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Advantages and key trends of digital technology........................................................................4
Digital business models...............................................................................................................6
Impacts of digital technology on collaborative business relationship and strategic alliances.....8
E-commerce principles..............................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Digital business are those business organization which rely on the digital technology for
their business operations and management. In a digital business the different varieties of data,
system and tools are used for the sales operations. E-commerce is the system which refers to the
buying and selling of goods over the internet (Schwertner, 2017). The activities in the E-
commerce include the transfer of money and data for the completion of the transaction. ASOS is
online retailer which deals with fashion and cosmetics. This organization is deals with over 850
brands on its website. It also has its own range of clothing and also accessories which it delivers
in a total of 196 countries. The founder of this company are Nick Robertson, Andrew Regan,
Quentin Griffiths and also Deborah Thorpe. This company is based in UK and has its
headquarters in London. In the year of 2020 it generates a total revenue of £3.17 billion. This
organization has well-developed E-commerce website which it allows its to complete its
operations. With the help of this website this organization is helped with providing its online
customers with filters and sorting feature that they can use for gaining good website shopping
experience. In this organization the digital marketing is used for promotional purpose as well,
specially social media platforms (ASOS, 2021). It allows this company to develop strong
relationship with the customers. In this project the key trends and its advantages for Asos are
discussed. This project also talks about the new and emerging business models which are used by
digital business organization. It will explain the importance of the digitalized collaborative
relationships and strategic alliances of the organization. This project discusses the use of e-
commerce principles in this organization.
MAIN BODY
Advantages and key trends of digital technology
Digital business refers to those business enterprise which utilize digital technology for
their operations and management in the organization. The formation of a digital business is
generally when an existing business adopts or transforms itself into a digital business. The role of
the technology in the digital business may differ according to the industry of the business.
Generally in a digital business utilization of productivity application for the management of task
is done (Lim, Jin and Srai, 2018). Digital business may include utilization of artificial

intelligence for enhancing the customers experience. Certain business use digital technology for
capturing data for in order to improve their business activities and there are also certain
companies which provide digital facilities to other business operation. ASOS utilizes digital
business as the online retailing of fashion and other accessories.
The Advantages of digital business are,
Digital presence :
The digital business activities of certain business organization allows them to have a
presence on the internet. This presence is very hand for their promotional activities.
New connection with customers :
Due to the digital presence which is developed in the organization, it develops new ways
of connecting with the customers. It can be with the help of social media, emails or even
application. This is the way in which the organization is able to increase its sales, loyalty and
also increase the customer's interaction (Véliz, 2021).
Customer centred :
Digitalization of a business allows the organization to generate a customer centric
business. This increases the responsibility of the business but it allows the business to find out
the opinions of the customers which they share on the company website. It also influences the
organization to bring constant improvements and innovation in their websites.
Better decision-making :
With the help of the digital technology the company can gather more information and
data which it can use in the future for making better overall decisions. Technology has been
helping organization for a long time. Just like that digitalization also will be doing the same for
businesses.
Encouraging innovation :
Due to the customer centric operation is the digital business it has to keep bringing new
updates and innovation in its digital platforms, products and services. In the digital business
market the companies which have the most innovation in their business operation are the ones to
succeed the most.
Increased communication and teamwork :
It is an advantage as a digital business that it gets improved communication and
teamwork among the organization with the help of the used digital technology. This happens

because of the improving technology in the communication of the employee and departments.
Increased communication between the employees automatically improves the teamwork between
the employees.
Some key trends in the digital businesses can be said as the introduction of AI. The
introduction of AI in the operation of the organization provides customer enhanced experience.
The spending the companies have to make for this is high with less direct returns. However, this
innovation attracts the attention of the customers. Safety of the business and their customer data
is a very important trend, The reason for this is that increase in technology has also increased the
cyber crime rate. Due to which the customers trust are broken for the company. Implementation
of digital technology bring a new culture in the organization. It develops the employees of the
organization. Digital technology helps the organization to personalize their products and services
as per the needs of the customers (Kerin and Pham, 2019).
ASOS the online fashion retailer uses the benefits of digital business for its advantages
quite often. This company utilizes its website for connecting with the customers and providing
them what they desire. This company has more than 85000 products on its websites and due to
the design of the website the customers do not face any difficulties finding what they are looking
for. For this company enhancement of the user experience is considered to be very important fact
which allows the organization to develop good relations with its customers.
Digital business models
The digital business model is a type of model which is used for the creation of value
which is entirely based on the development of the customers benefits by the utilization of the
digital technology. The main aim of the digital solutions is to generation of significant advantage
towards the potential customers of the business. In an emerging digital business models are
based on the three main dimensions of the customers, product/services and also their value chain.
The base of the business model framework is the articulation of the digital trends which helps in
uncovering the specific dynamics of the industry. For the development of a new business model
it is considered as an important task to digitalize and disrupt the company and its operations. In
certain companies new digital business model is formed by just extending their existing business
model with a digital component (Zheng, Yang and Cheng, 2019).

The digital business model can be defined as the model which is used for improving the
digital technology for improving the different aspects of the organization. Some digital business
model are,
Open source :
In this digital business model the company allows the access of the software for generally
giving the customers the ability of programming and contributing towards the essentials
ingredients. In this model companies generally do not make profit out of its main operation but
do it with the help of other activities like advertising and promotion.
Free model :
This model is provides the users free services against which the company do not get any
income but for other activities like advertising and website development there are paid.
Subscription based model :
In this business model the organization provides the customers certain services which
they can use after taking a periodic subscription. This model also insists on providing demo of
the subscripted services prior to subscription (Ismail, Khater and Zaki, 2017).
E-commerce model :
This digital business model allows the customers to purchase product via online websites
by making payment physically on the arrival of the product or online. This business model is
very straight forward and utilized by most of the online retailer including the ASOS (Vial, 2019).
The digital business model for ASOS is E-commerce business model, this business model
is a mix sales of traditional products of the company with the addition of digital technology in
which hardware, software and other digitalized services are offered to the customers. Depending
on the products or services the customers make their payment. Some common issues faced this
business model of the company are,
Focusing on the real goal :
Due to such complex operations of this company it faces issues regarding maintaining
focus on the main objective of the company. Although with help of this business model it
becomes easy for the organization to maintain focus on the sales of its products.
Cyber security :
For a digital business maintaining their cyber security is very important because of the
safety of the data of both company and the customers. The customers trust the company with

their banking details when they share it online while making the transaction. The business model
of this organization suggests it to develop strong security for the safety of the customer data so
that the customer experience does not get affected (Rangaswamy and et.al., 2020).
Ethics :
For e-commerce business the management it is very important to deliver the correct
product which is promised by the customer on the online website. This is the ethical
responsibility of the company to not only provide the correct product but also make sure it is
delivered properly in the right hands. The E-commerce business model of this company
influences it to have strong interaction between the shoppers and the vendors and with the help
of excellent delivery services as the main motive of the company is customers experience. It is
able to fulfil the needs of the customers.
Impacts of digital technology on collaborative business relationship and strategic alliances
A collaborative business relationship is the participation of the two or more business
organization for sharing the resources, finances, knowledge and people. After the collaborative
partnership the goals of the organizations becomes one. This relationship formed by the
organization are seen to develop more with the development of their business. Strategic alliance
between two or more companies is an arrangement that is taken under by the organization for a
mutual project or task (Balabanits and Gaponiuk, 2019). In a strategic alliance there is complete
independence between the companies. The agreement between the companies in the strategic
alliance is considered to be less complex than that of a partnership or a join venture. Business do
not lose its identity during the business practices (Teece and Linden, 2017).
Advantages and disadvantages of new collaborative relationships through digital
technology are,
Advantages Disadvantages
Save time- With the help of collaboration in
between two or more companies and their
digital business and operation the time
consumption of the companies decreases as
they are able to utilize the new technology for
completing the operations faster.
Doubtful outcome- The outcomes of the
digital collaboration between the organization
may or may not justify the investments put in
them by the companies. This happens as it is
difficult to judge the time and resources.

Flexibility– Collaboration of digital
technology of two or more organization
provides them flexibility in their work process.
This happens because the organizations
provides the digital technology introduction to
each other and the operational capacity of the
organization increases.
Complexity- Due to the organizations focus on
the digital collaboration it becomes hard for the
organization to focus on their main business
activities. Creating complexity in their
operations (Ziyadin, Suieubayeva and
Utegenova, 2019).
Workplace atmosphere- Some collaborations
help the organization to improve their physical
environment with digitalization.
Diversion of resources- Just because of the
digital collaboration some companies feel face
the issue of their resources for example
employees and other technology are used in
other purposes rather than the main objective,
Network- The collaborative relationship
between the organization allows them to
connect their employee which might have
different background. This results in the
improvement of the quality of employees.
Damaging Resources- The collaborative
partners of the company use the technology of
the company which can damage their
resources.
Increased productivity- Collaboration
between the organization provides them
improvement in areas in which help them to
improve their productivity.
Stakeholder confusion- The companies
involved in the organization often get confused
about their stakeholders.
The advantages and disadvantages of digital strategic alliance are,
Advantages Disadvantages
Market access- With the help of the strategic
alliance the organization are able to gain access
of each other market. Digitalization plays an
important role in this feature.
Weaker management- Due to the digital
strategic alliance between the organization the
management of the organization are busy in
handling the alliance rather that the
organization itself.

Exploitation of opportunities- Alliance with a
company gives the organization opportunities
for strengthening its market position (Azeredo,
Reis and Pinto, 2020).
Market insulation fear- For the company it is
always the risk that the partner with which it
does strategic alliance they can learn from the
company and enter the market as a competitor.
Increase sales- Alliance done by the
organization allows it to increase its sales due
to different factors which is improved in the
process of strategic alliance.
Poor communication- Due to the increase in
the activities of related to the strategic alliance
the organization fail to maintain good
communication between themselves.
Skills and technology- Due to the alliance
formed by the organization it helps the
employees and the company to develop new
skills by leaning new technology.
Poor resource allocation- The organization
when share their digital resources with each
other there is a risk of loss of use of the
resource for the organization itself (Delaney,
2019).
ASOS can utilize both strategic alliance and collaborative relationship. It can use it for a
promotional method which will allow its business to spread among in the market. This will
happen as the collaborative organization will provide the customers base to ASOS. This
company can also try to utilize collaboration with IT companies to improve its digital security
which is very essential. With the help of strategic alliance this organization builds a strong
operational structure of delivering the customers their products. Collaboration with social media
websites will allow this company to strategically plan its promotions (Garrett, Straker and
Wrigley, 2017).
E-commerce principles
E-commerce is known as those activities which involves the buying and selling of goods
and services. It can also consist of transmission of data and funds in a electronically controlled
network called internet. The transaction of business in E-commerce takes place between either
business to customer or from business to business.
The e-commerce principles are requirements a business should maintain for generating
maximum revenue from the digital business. These principles are as follows,
User Friendliness :

This principles of e-commerce state that the website of the company should be user-
friendly so that the customers have an easy experience using it.
Unique design elements :
It is very important for the organization involved in an E-commerce business to make
sure that the design of their online websites and its other feature should be different that other
organization. An inventive design influences the users to browse through the website (Li, 2018).
Emphasizing on security :
It is considered to be very important for such E-commerce websites to make sure that
they have great security which will be able to protect not just the company's data but also the
data of customers.
Responsive technology :
It is important for such companies to have technology which is easy to respond to by the
customers. For example, For bringing excessive innovation some websites are loaded with
images and content which take a lot of time loading. It is important for E-commerce to makes
sure that the website is easy to access.
Knowing the target audience :
It is important for the E-commerce website to develop it in a way that it influences the
target customers. This will make the customers feel that it is a necessary thing for them to buy.
Some companies like to position their products according to the needs of the customers.
Search and filter :
This is considered to be one of the most important principle as it allows the customers to
search what they are looking for on the website. The option of filter helps those customers who
do not have the right idea for their purchase preferences and this option helps them in choosing
what they need (Setiawan, 2018).
ASOS in the recent years have been very successful in maintaining its E-commerce
principles in check. This allowed the company to increase its revenue even during the pandemic.
The E-commerce website of this company is very user-friendly and has been design for
providing the customers total satisfaction. It contains proper images regarding its product which
helps the customers to understand what the business has to offer. This company has made sure
that it develops its websites according to its target customers which are generally millennials.
This company has also given huge focus over the security of its website and have lived upto the

expectations of the customers. The only improvement this company needs to do with its website
is to make it easy to load. Due to having lots of images and designs its takes a little longer for the
customer to load it. Apart from this company has started the trend of genderless fashion which is
a great innovation in the fashion sector (Robert, 2018).
CONCLUSION
With the help of this project it can be concluded that digitalization is very important for
the business of ASOS and its model is very effective for its operations. This project explained
the digital business and its advantages for an organization. In this project the key trends of the
digital business and their application on the digital business is discussed. This project also
explains the digital business models with some examples. This project shows the business model
used by ASOS and how it helps the organization to overcome some issues. It helped in
understanding the impact of the new collaborative relationship and also the importance of the
strategic alliance. In this project the discussion for the E-commerce and its principles is done for
ASOS.

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