MIS500 Report: Analysis of Information System at Woolworths

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the information system implemented by Woolworths Limited, an Australian retail organization. The study focuses on the adoption and impact of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. It explores how Wool...Read More

Running head: INFORMATION SYSTEM AT WOOLWORTHS
INFORMATION SYSTEM AT WOOLWORTHS
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1INFORMATION SYSTEM AT WOOLWORTHS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
ERP and CRM System at Woolworths Limited.........................................................................2
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................5

2INFORMATION SYSTEM AT WOOLWORTHS
Introduction
The information system in a business process plays a key role in effectively managing
the data acquired from the organizational activities and stores the data in a computerised
database for future use (Laurini, 2018). These data helps in generating reports that are used to
implement strategic decisions in order to improve the business processes. Woolworths is one
such reputed organization in the nation of Australia that implemented information system to
reduce costs and gain customer satisfaction through their services.
ERP and CRM System at Woolworths Limited
The organization of Woolworths Limited faced quite a few challenges incorporating
their old systems and failed to cope up with the competition in the market amongst the other
retail organizations. They started losing out on their customers because they could not assure
them of the data security and failed to provide customer services like the other competitors in
the market. Due to the increase in the sales and the customer base, the organization had a
tough time to manage the day-to-day operations and efficiently collect the data on a regular
basis (Pearlson, Saunders & Galletta, 2019). Hence, the organization took the decision of
implementing the SAP ERP system to incorporate various benefits in the organizational
actions and achieve business goals.
Firstly, Woolworths Limited took the advantage of the ERP system to manage the
data generated from the huge customer base and store this data with encrypted security
mechanisms. These data are confidential to the organization and the ERP software proved to
be beneficial not only for storing the data but also generate reports on the average number of
customers per day, the highest sold product and so on. With the help of these reports, the
company is able to make strategic decisions like providing discount offers or raising the
prices of a certain product (Jones, Shahid & Neal, 2018). Hence, ERP system proved to be

3INFORMATION SYSTEM AT WOOLWORTHS
beneficial in accumulating the data and using them to generate important information in order
to implement strategic decisions in the business.
The ERP system not only helped to manage the data in a computerised format, it
incorporated other benefits too. Due to the adoption of the ERP software solution,
Woolworths Limited succeeded in reducing the overall cost for sales processes. Since the
specific information about the product are all stored in the system, minimal time was required
in calculating the selling prices of the items leading to faster selling procedure (Borel-
Saladin, 2018). The adoption of ERP system software in the organization also contributed in
the increase in the cash flow of the system for the one-time events. The time taken for the
delivery of the order, billing of the order and the payment processing considerably reduced at
large due to the effective implementation of the ERP system.
Along with the implementation of ERP systems, the company also benefitted from the
adoption of the CRM software solutions that helped the consumers of the organization to
interact with the business dealers and thus resolve the existing issues from both ends
(Govender, 2017). The organization adopted e-commerce business allowing their clients to
order products online and get it delivered at their doorstep within no time. The clients of
Woolworths Limited could purchase their desired items and make the payment online. They
were highly satisfied with the services and could exchange or complain about their products
through the website itself. The company arranged for 24*7 services to increase customer
satisfaction and thus retain them for a longer time.
Due to the integration of the e-commerce and mobile commerce facilities, the existing
customers brought in new customers for the organization leading to mutual benefit on both
ends. With the help of the CRM software, the company was able to facilitate its customers
with another striking feature of e-wallet system. By incorporating this system, the customer

4INFORMATION SYSTEM AT WOOLWORTHS
could store certain amount of money in the transactional account of the organization and use
it while buying items and get discount benefits in return (Humayun, 2016). Thus,
Woolworths Limited took the full advantage of the CRM software to provide convenient
services to its customers and thus increase the smooth functionality of their business.
Conclusion
Information system plays an important role in easing out the business processes of an
organization and helps the business owners take effective decisions to increase the
smoothness in their business processes. The report discusses about the key problems faced by
the organization of Woolworths Limited in Australia and the ways they have overcome the
issues by implementing ERP and CRM software in their organization. In conclusion, it can be
said that, the organization could enhance their data and account management system through
the ERP system and could increase proficiency in their customer services with the help of the
CRM software.

5INFORMATION SYSTEM AT WOOLWORTHS
References
Borel-Saladin, B. (2018). AN ANALYSIS OF BRAND LOYALTY AND CONSUMERS OF
ORGANIC FRUIT, IN CONTEXT OF THE POSSIBLE INTRODUCTION OF A
“WATER-WISE” TABLE GRAPE VARIETY-CASE STUDY AT WOOLWORTHS IN
CAPE TOWN (Doctoral dissertation, The IIE).
Govender, S. (2017). How social media can be used to engage and interact with consumers
in the retail industry: an analysis on Woolworths' online strategies (Doctoral
dissertation, The IIE).
Humayun, S. H. (2016). Merchandising operation of Woolworths Global Sourcing.
Jones, A., Shahid, M., & Neal, B. (2018). Uptake of Australia’s health star rating
system. Nutrients, 10(8), 997.
Laurini, R. (2018). Information systems for urban planning: a hypermedia cooperative
approach. CRC Press.
Pearlson, K. E., Saunders, C. S., & Galletta, D. F. (2019). Managing and using information
systems: A strategic approach. John Wiley & Sons.