Impact of Digital technology on the sales of retail industry- A case study on Marks and Spencer

Managing Successful
Business project

Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1: Project aim and objectives...........................................................................................................3
P2 Project management plan with cost aspects, scope, time, quality and communication risk........4
P3: Work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart.............................................................................6
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................8
P4: Small scale research by implementation qualitative and quantitative research..........................8
TASK 3...............................................................................................................................................10
P5 Evaluation research and data using appropriate tools and techniques......................................10
P6 Appropriate recommendation as a result of data and research analysis....................................18
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................19
P7 Reflection upon undertakings to attain objectives.....................................................................19
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................21
APPENDIX.........................................................................................................................................22

Title: “Impact of Digital technology on the sales of retail industry- A case study on
Marks and Spencer”.
INTRODUCTION
Globalisation includes the process by which an organisation operates its business
activities at global level through exchanging goods and services with other countries. Thus,
to manage any business project more successfully it is important for the management to
analyse the external factors and accordingly formulate an aim and objectives so that their
employees get right direction to perform. The present assignment is based on Marks and
Spencer (M&S) which is engaged in providing multiple of products such as clothing, home
products and luxury food products. The project includes the aims and objectives, project
management plan, breakdown structure, Gantt chart, small scale research, methods and
techniques to analyse data etc. The project also explains the recommendation and reflection
upon undertakings.
TASK 1
P1: Project aim and objectives
Marks and Spencer (M&S) is a UK-based retail company which is engaged in selling
wide range of products such as clothing, home products and luxury food products. The
company was established in the year 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds.
It has operated over 900 stores in which 615 stores are only for selling food products across
UK. Therefore, the company is operated at global level due to which it has been affected by
several factors such as economic, cultural and ethical. For this, the management has decided
to adopt digital technology in their business operations so as to capture large market share
and attained skilled workforce. The present report is based on the digital technology adopted
by Retail Company named as M&S so as to enhance their business activities at global level
(Adzic, 2011).
Topic: “Impact of Digital technology on the sales of retail industry- A case study on Marks
and Spencer”.
According to the present case study, globalisation containing influencing factors
which can affect the business operations of organisations operated at global level therefore to

increase sales figure in such circumstances, the retail global companies such as M&S decide
to bring innovation in their business process as to compete with rivals more effectively.
Aim: Impact of mobile technology as digital technology to increase sales of retail industry-
A case study on Marks and Spencer.
The main purpose of the examination report is to identify the effectiveness of mobile
technology implemented in business process so as to achieve huge sales and revenue at global
market.
Research objectives:
 To identify the concept of mobile technology in regards of Marks and Spencer.
 To identify the impact of mobile technology in increasing sales figure of M&S.
 To analysis the relationship between mobile technology and sales of Marks and
Spencer.
Research Questions:
 Define the concept of mobile technology in regards of Marks and Spencer?
 What is the major impact of mobile technology in increasing sales figure of M&S?
 How mobile technology is interconnected with the sales of Marks and Spencer?
P2 Project management plan with cost aspects, scope, time, quality and communication risk
Project management plan is a preparation of execution of project activities in which all
plans and actions are written in advance with the purpose of giving right direction and
guidance to the employees without facing any future contingencies. It increases the chances
of making business project more successful through determining project activities, resources
utilised, manpower needed etc. in advance. Apart from this, scope, time, quality, risk etc. are
included in such project management plan which is further understood as under:
Scope: Investing money in adoption of digital technology always brings maximum
return to company in near future. It supports company in enhancing sales revenues,
employee’s satisfaction, efficiency in business activities etc. M&S is a retail company
decided to adopt mobile technology which gives a platform for their customers of UK and
outside of UK to buy their wide range of products without visiting at their physical stores.
This will bring internet and buying behaviour of customers which directly makes huge impact

on the sales figure of company. Therefore, the scope of adoption of mobile technology is
much wider (Basu, 2014).
Cost: It refers to the amount which is incurred or sacrificed to gain something. M&S
adopts mobile technology which requires huge amount of funds without which the business
activities will not be executed according to the desired plans. Therefore, it is important for
management of M&S to analyse financial reports and on the basis of which manage funds
from different sources such as raising funds from investors, or reserve funds. For this, the
management required to prepare an effective budget in advance so as to identify the cost
allocated to different project activities. For example cost required to incur in making skilled
workforce through providing training and development programs. The sample of such budget
statement showing total cost incurred is given as under:
Total forecasted budget
Particular 2017-18($)
Implementing technology cost 17000
Promotional expense 7000
Advertisement expense 5500
Catalogues 1800
Training charges 7500
Total cost 38800
Time: It is another important factor which assist organisation to achieve competitive
opportunities among their rivals if project activities are executed within limited period of
time. M&S decided to adopt mobile technology in their business process so as to facilitate
customers to buy their products without visiting at their stores thus implementing such digital
technology within limited period of time increases the chances of sales figure of company as
it may adopted by their rivals as well in future which can decreases their competitiveness in

market. Therefore, time play an important role in sustaining in global market (Davies and
Hughes, 2014).
Risk: It always present in any project activities which can affect the aims and
objectives of an organisation as well. For this the management is held responsible to forecast
the risk in advance which can be related with shortage of funds, lack of support of employees,
inadequate resources etc. Adoption of mobile technology involves huge risk which should be
tackled by the management of M&S through conducting research about such aspects that
causes risk in advance. It assists management to make effective strategies and plans in order
to deal with future complexities in more effective way.
Communication: Mutual help gotten by employees can be conceivable only when the
management of M&S can build up a decent communication channel at work environment.
The employee’s feels motivated when they unmistakably comprehend the organization main
objective behind the adoption of mobile technology alongside their jobs and obligations thus
it is more essential for management to bring transparency in communication and give a stage
to workers to speak with best specialist specifically. This will make positive impact on the
execution of project activities of M&S.
Resources: It is essential necessity which motivates management of M&S to choose to
actualize some innovation changes in their business procedure. Having adequate measure of
resources, for example, capitals, reserves, talented employees and so forth urges organization
to work on execution of their innovation decisions. Hence, the management of M&S Should
initially arranged resources through taking help from various divisions and oversee them as
needs be (Harish and Kumar, 2014).
P3: Work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart
Work breakdown structure: It is somewhat graph which demonstrates the connections
among the project activities executed in finishing of undertakings. The graphical idea of work
breakdown structure can encourage management of M&S to foresee results dependent on
different situations which guides management to reconsider about their current arrangements
and choose whether to roll out a few improvements or not in order to accomplish beneficial
results.