Innovation and Commercialisation in Online Grocery Retailing

This report discusses the ways in which different organizations source and foster innovation, different types of innovation, and how they are processed within organizations in the context of online grocery retailing. It also includes a detailed business case for innovation for an organization, including risks, benefits and ways to access funding. The report covers Amazon Fresh and Wizzy as the two major online grocery retailers.

Innovation and
Commercialisation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................4
P1 Discuss the ways in which different organizations source and foster innovation, using
specific examples........................................................................................................................4
M1 Analyze the ways in which innovation is sourced and supported within different..............5
organization environments and cultures......................................................................................5
P2 Differentiate between different types of innovation and how they are processed within
organizations...............................................................................................................................6
M2 Analyze how different types of innovation are successfully processed within different.....7
organization settings....................................................................................................................7
P3 Produce a detailed business case for innovation for an organization, including risks,
benefits and ways to access funding...........................................................................................8
M3 Produce an evidence-based business case analysis for innovation that emphasizes the
business value for potential investment....................................................................................10
P4 Recommending tools for protecting the knowledge and intellectual property, generated
through innovation process with critical evaluation of tools....................................................11
M4 Critically evaluate the different tools that organizations can use to develop, retain and
protect knowledge and intellectual property in the context of the wider business environment.
...................................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Innovation refers to the development of something new and unique. For the online retailer it is
the building up of a new product that is completely new and distinct from others. The term
commercialisation is the method of bringing the new products and services on the ground. It
necessitates production, distribution, marketing, sales and other important functions which is
crucial for the achievement of the commercial success of the new product and service.
Innovation without the commercialisation is nothing. The source behind the innovation are the
four important areas such as the unexpected success and the failures, the process needs, the
changes in the market and industry and the incongruities. Through the constant evolvement of
the technology, there can be seen the significant changes in the way in which the dealings of
products and services are done. The report below will cover the Amazon fresh and Wizzy as the
two major online grocery retailers(Ding and Wu, 2022). Amazon fresh is the subsidiary of the
American e-commerce company Amazon in Seattle, Washington. It is the grocery retailer with
physical stores and delivery services. Whereas Wizzy is offering grocery delivery service which
provides UK groceries to the doorstep. The report will cover the different which the
organisations promotes and source the innovation and also an overview will be covered
regarding the different types of innovation. Further a detailed business case will be covered
which will also include the risks, benefits and ways of funding. At the end the report will cover
the tools that organisation use for protecting the knowledge and intellectual property.
TASK
P1 Discuss the ways in which different organizations source and foster innovation, using
specific examples.
For retailers, innovation is all about the occurrence of the new developments or the
enhancements in the technology, services or the products or the business systems. For consumers
it offers convenience and value and for the retailers the growth and competitive advantage.
Innovation needs to be market focused. Thus it must begins with the identification of the
opportunities in more systematic and organized way(Dutta, Shukla and Chander, 2021). There
are various ways in which the innovation is sourced that are-
 New knowledge- it has been seen most commonly, that ideas keeps on discovering with
the passage of time and are added to the existing knowledge base. So knowledge is

considered the key for sourcing the innovation. The more advance technology is the
source of innovation that can be avoided. By keeping the pace with the ongoing trends
and the emerging trends, the satisfaction of the customer, better understanding of the
effective utilization of the technology and an enhanced customer service and the supply
chain.
 Demographics- this includes the traits like population, size, age structure, employment,
educational status and income. These all are considered crucial indicators for tracking the
future trends and offer the diverse opportunities for the innovation. More the gap between
the generations, more will be the distinct demands for the products and services. The
changes occurring in the environment helps in identifying the need or the products, the
target sector and the number of products being distributed.
 Innovation based on the process needs- the weaker section of the organization such as
workflows, processes and system offers the practical opportunities for the innovation.
Innovation as per this is task focused situation focused.
 The unexpected- the emerging business world is unpredictable which is full of
unanticipated events(Exposito and Sanchis-Llopis, 2018). So this basically means the
unsure failures and the success or any events that occur in the organization which trigger
innovative ideas and become the most creative source of the organization. These
situations further influence and inspire the organization in new way.
 Changes in the industry structure or the market structure- every organization needs to
adapt the changing environment in an effective way. Whenever a change occur in the
industry, the business gets effected but it inspire people to explore the new ideas.
Therefore the industry and market are ever changing, thus creates a great opportunities
for innovation in order to make the organization adapts the same and adjust quickly.
So for Amazon Fresh, the major source of innovation is the new knowledge and the
demographics. The reason behind this is the getting a brief description of the capacities that it
must pursue in order to sustain in the market and also for the timely implementation of the
indispensable innovation and achieve the heights in success.
For Wizzy, the major source of the innovation is changes in industry structure and the market
structure. The reason for this is to get a hint that what a market requires and what the retailers are
offering. So overall, a comparative view is gained between the offering and the trends existing.

M1 Analyze the ways in which innovation is sourced and supported within different
organization environments and cultures.
The steps for sourcing and supporting the innovation in different organization environment and
culture are as-
1. Creating a shared understanding of the innovation- the reason behind the innovation
varies from retailer to retailer. For Amazon Fresh and Wizzy innovation is not limited
to the technologies, products and services but much more than that like offering the value
to the customer(Gong, Liu, Rong and Fu, 2021). The intention behind is to make the lives
better and easier of the customer.
2. Creating a work environment which supports creativity and innovation-
organization that reinforce the innovation also bear up the creativity.
3. Building the innovation skills and introducing the process of the innovation- in order
to come up with the innovation, it is required for the individual as well as teams to be
equipped with the skills of the innovation. So for being innovative, Amazon Fresh and
Wizzy needs to think differently and also increase the creative thinking capabilities
4. Measuring the impact- after above three stages are completed, with respect to the
support of the organization culture to the innovation, its the stage of measuring the
impact.
P2 Differentiate between different types of innovation and how they are processed within
organizations.
Innovation refers to the method that put forward an option to something that is to be done in a
particular way, brings economic and behavioral benefits, solves problems or make the daily lives
practical. It is all about a significant change that becomes essential and can be related to the
product, service, process, market or the means of production. If appropriate tools are available,
then innovation can prove that it has a potential to scale up the business(Janka, Heinicke and
Guenther, 2020). There exist different types of innovation and their process are as follows-
 Radical Innovation- it changes the position of the brand that can be in terms of the
market or the dynamics of the business. The reason behind the occurrence of same is a
significant change in the method of work, processes, services and also the products
offered and also somewhat about how it relates to the customer.

The example of the radical innovation can be the Apple iPhone because when it was introduced
in the market, there were already existing mobiles but it came with some innovative and unique
features that has gained the popularity over time.
 Incremental innovation- it is the adding on of the new features to the existing product or
the brand or the introduction of the new production methods without fostering a major
change. So basically it is the rise of that innovation which already came to view by the
brand that provide enhancements in the employees, customer or the business features.
The example of incremental innovation can be the G mail which was although created for the
purpose of sending the mails quickly but over the passage of time, various new features were
added to improve the experience of the customer and make it more useful.
 Disruptive Innovation- as per the recent scenario, the major changes in the technology
and the behavior of the people, has let to the emergence of the disruptive innovation. This
change is a scalable, that can be reach to enormous people at same time. This overall
follows the market rather a particular brand or the product or the service
 Sustaining innovation- it is considered as an appropriate way to protect the position of
the organization in the market. It emphasize on the bigger changes to maintain the leader
position in the marketplace(Koloniari, Vraimaki and Fassoulis, 2018). It basically
introduces those features to the product or the service that is completely distinct from the
competitors.
The example of the disruptive innovation can be Netflix as it has replaced the movies and TV
series by offering the DVD by mail rental services. This was not only considered as a part of
innovation by the Netflix but also gave a predictable monthly revenue to the Netflix.
The type of the innovation adopted by the Amazon Fresh is the radical innovation through
which it is able to achieve competitive advantage in the market and keeps on improving its image
among the competitors in the market.
The type of innovation adopted by Wizzy is the incremental innovation as through this it is able
to achieve the heights of the success and also the retailer is able to grow and change its method
by constantly reviewing the feedback of the customer and then accordingly making the changes.

M2 Analyze how different types of innovation are successfully processed within different
organization settings.
The various types of innovation have offered the way in which the organization can innovate in
one way or the other. The type of innovation is to be selected on the basis that provide the
success in the end(Pan and Zhang, 2021). In order to successfully process the innovation of
different types, it is required appropriate processes, a marketing plan for the customers and also
an open culture with advocacy. The distribution and implementation is the best opportunity for
the future ideas and thus this final stage allows the organization to identify the desire of the
customer. Receiving feedback as a barometer for success and other benchmarks, makes an
organization to stimulate the process of innovation.
P3 Produce a detailed business case for innovation for an organization, including risks,
benefits and ways to access funding.
A business case for innovation would cover the reason that why the action is required for the
innovation. So it is generally a written document which includes tangible and intangible risks
and benefits of the innovation and the reason why innovation is supported. The information
included in the database must be restricted to which is crucial for the decision making process.
There are various risk associated with the innovation, some of the most potential pitfalls that are
faced by Amazon fresh and Wizzy-
Availability of finance- for making the innovation successful, it requires huge finance. The
demands for innovation require high rate of return(Reisoğlu and Çebi, 2020). So organization
with limited amount of cash resources faces high difficulty in implementing the innovation.
Competition- an innovation only provides the competitive advantage if the competitors have the
tendency to implement the same in their own business. Although patents have an active role to
play in providing the legal protection to the products but the harsh reality is it is difficult to
protect the innovative product and processes.
Uncertain commercial returns- whatever the research is made, it does not ensure guarantee of
the profit and revenue in the future. The longer time is taken in development so the bigger risk is
involved as the research is overtaken by the competitors also.
Along with the risk, there are some positives of the innovation that benefits the Amazon Fresh
and Wizzy like-

 Improved productivity and reduced cost- process innovation is all about the reduction in
the unit cost. So it can be gained through increasing the capacity of the production and
also the business flexibility, for exploiting the economies of scale.
 Better quality- through the innovation the quality of the products gets improved by which
customer are more satisfied as their needs get fulfilled.
 Handling of the legal and environmental issues- with the help of innovation, carbon
emissions can reduced, less wastage gets produced and easy compliance with the
changing product legislation. When a change is made in the legal terms, it often give rise
to the innovation.
 Building range of the products- a business that have single product or the limited range of
the product, get major benefit from the innovation(Shaikh and Randhawa, 2022). Also
where the product range is wider, there is an opportunity for the huge sales and the
profits.
There are various sources of funding available to the online groceries retailers which includes
equity finance, debt, venture capital etc. Each source has its own advantages and disadvantages-
 Debt as a source of finance- it means carrying the funds from the third party and making
an agreement to repay the same along with the interest. It is in the form of the loans that
is borrowed from credit unions and financial institutions
Advantages-
1. No dilution of the ownership that is equity is retained with the business itself
2. rate of interest is fixed, that is not threat of the fluctuation in the rate
3. no robust options of the repayment
Disadvantages-
1. it is difficult for the business in the initial stage, to repay the debt on regular basis due to
the limited cash flow
2. If debt to equity ratio is very high, then investor might loose interest in the business
3. It becomes difficult to manage the liabilities
 Venture capital as a source of finance- venture capitalist are considered as the fund
managers who invest the money in private business for the sake of return for equity in the
business. It generally offers funds to the high risk projects. The plus point here is that no
repayment, when profits are not made.

Advantages-
1. along with the finance, the knowledge and guidance and also the access is provided to the
networks '
2. Fund refunding is usually done through the exit strategy rather from a fixed amount.
Disadvantages-
1. The little ownership gets diluted and so does the control
2. the responsibilities for reporting and disclosure gets increased
 Crowdfunding- it is the method of raising finance for the particular purpose from the
group usually smaller amounts for a shorter period of time.
Advantages-
1. A quick way to raise the finance with no advance fees
2. with this source of finance, the investors can turn out to be most loyal customers
Disadvantages-
1. Any wrong return, can given the major business to investors
2. any project that gets failed, may harm the reputation of the business and also of the
investors who have offered money.
M3 Produce an evidence-based business case analysis for innovation that emphasizes the
business value for potential investment
In context to Amazon fresh, there is required to offer the customized and better customer
services by having proper understanding of the likes and dislikes so that demand can be fulfilled
in suitable way(Wang, Phillips and Yang, 2021). The business case it as-
Business case-
Executive summary The Amazon Fresh, is use the more advance form of the technology
with the objective of becoming cost effective with offerings of more
customized services to the customer by knowing them personally.
Problem definition
and analysis
Due to low innovation, it has become difficult for the Amazon Fresh to
provide something new to the customer that they feel attracted towards.
Solutions For solving this issue, Amazon Fresh has realised the need of
innovation to be bring on to the ground for which it exploits 4Ps of

innovation process. It is using commercial funnel.
Project description Resources have an important role to play in innovation for making the
most unique and innovative products. It has also led to the emergence of
needs of human resource like technical and research and development
experts
Cost and benefit
analysis
This analysis will help the retailer in reducing the cost and measure the
benefits of the decision associated with the action
Financial analysis This analysis will help the retailer to analyse the amount of finance that
will be required for making the innovation successful.
The business case for the Wizzy-
Business case
Executive summary Wizzy is using the most innovative technology, with the aim of
leading in online retailer groceries
Problem definition and
analysis
The retailer is not able to use the innovation in appropriate way as
required to compete among the retailers in retail industry
Solution In solving this problem, Wizzy has realised that innovation will be
needed to sustain the customers and make them buy in their online
grocery store
Project description The use of resources came to view by indulging the experts with
respect to technology and research and development
Cost and benefit
analysis
This is the identification of the advantage that retailer will have in
form of cost reduction
Financial Analysis This will be the examination of the best source of finance in order to
bring the innovation on the ground successfully.

P4 Recommending tools for protecting the knowledge and intellectual property, generated
through innovation process with critical evaluation of tools.
The most important area which often gets neglected or does not get the required attention and
care is the intellectual property(Yang, Jia and Xu, 2018). It is always suggested that it must be
protected. In order to gain an in depth understanding of the tools of the intellectual property, it is
required to study its four types such as-
 Patents- it is the consortium granted by the government with respect to build, sell and
use the invention. The normal shelf life of the patent is 20 years and after the expiry of
this period it is free and can be copied by others. In order to get the patent, the idea of the
innovation must met the following requirements-
1. the subject matter should be “Patentable”
2. the idea must be completely new
3. the idea must be useful
4. the idea should not be obvious
this further includes three types of patents- utility patent- it is generally granted to an individual who discovers the innovative and
useful processes, an article of manufacture and any useful improvement design patent- it is granted to the person who invents unique, original and ornamental
design Plant patent- it is granted to someone who invents differentiated and new variety plants.
 Trademarks- it is the combination of the design and symbol through which the products
are recognised by the user in the marketplace. A trademark does not provide the
guarantee that a particular word or the phrase belongs to an individual but an individual
has the right to use the word for specific goods and services(Yang, Nguyen and Le,
2018). For getting the trademark it is important to analyse the sections of the goods and
services that will be covered through this. It needs to be confirmed that the trademark
should not become common in the minds of the people.
 Copyrights- it safeguards the original work of the authorship like photographs, paintings,
blog posts, architectural works and plays. In context to copyrights, protection is provided

to the expression and not to the ideas, procedures, methods, systems or the discoveries.
The law related to this provides the exhaustive rights to the owners like-
1. can replicate the work
2. prepare the imitative works
3. copies can be distributed by sale, transfer of ownership or license
4. to present the work publicly
for works made on hire, the copyright protection is 95 years from the publication or 120 years
from the creation, whichever is shorter. Although the copyright exist automatically, but the
protection can be enhanced through the work registration. Therefore Amazon fresh and Weezy
by using patents is able to prevent others from cloning, manufacturing, selling or importing the
invention without its permission. Through use of trademark, both the retailers are able to identify
the source of goods and services, offer the legal protection to the brand and can safeguard against
the fraud. Through properly registering their work, Amazon fresh and Weezy is safe from the
unauthorised use as it is considered as the first evidence to prove that work belongs to the owner.
M4 Critically evaluate the different tools that organizations can use to develop, retain and
protect knowledge and intellectual property in the context of the wider business
environment.
Most importantly there exist three business tool that can be used to protect the intellectual
property rights namely, patents, trademarks and the copyrights. A patent is applicable to the
particular product or the design, the trademark is applicable to the phrase or the symbol and
copyright is the written document(Andersen, Aagaard and Magnusson, 2022). Further it has been
overviewed that intellectual property protection is very important for promoting the innovation.
Because if protection is not provided to the business or the ideas or to the individuals, the full
benefit cannot be gained of the invention and less focus will be provided to the research and
development.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that innovation for any business is of utmost importance
irrespective of the size and scale of operations. Innovation relates to the development of
something new and unique and should be protected as per the law with the help of the various
tools of protection such as copyright, trademark and patents as mentioned above. Every positives

comes with negatives and so does the benefits of innovation with certain risk which needs to be
undertook in order to solve the challenges associated with it. Finance also has an important role
to play as it is necessary in successful implementation of the innovation and get the desired
results. The report has also suggested the types of innovation that is used by the online retailers
and the source is also available for fostering the innovation.
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