Digital Disruption and its Impact on Retail Business: A Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of digital disruption within the retail sector, using Sainsbury's as a primary case study. It begins by defining digital disruption and its impact on the retail industry, emphasizing the role of data as a crucial business tool. The report explores the various types of jobs available in the sector and the skills required for a successful career in this evolving landscape. It includes an online research questionnaire designed for industry professionals and a discussion guide for face-to-face interviews. The study investigates how Sainsbury's has adapted to digital disruption, including its use of technology and data to enhance customer experience, streamline operations, and maintain a competitive edge. The report also examines the impact of digital marketing and online sales on the company's performance, as well as the importance of digital skills and expertise within the organization. The report highlights the changes in consumer behavior and the significance of adapting to new technologies to stay ahead in the dynamic retail environment.

DIGITAL DISRUPTION

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................4
Set out what is digital disruption.............................................................................................................4
Impact on the retail sector with emphasis on the role of data as a business tool......................................5
Define types of jobs within the sector and the skills that will be required to build a successful career....6
Write an online research questionnaire to be sent to an industry professional.........................................8
Write a discussion guide to use in face to face interview with an industry professional..........................8
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................10
REFRENCES............................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Digital disruption emphasize on the new innovation that has additional features and
creates value addition in the lives of customer in comparison to existing product (McQuivey,
2013). In simple affect the existing business model or technology by deteriorating it value due to
the introduction of more customer friendly technology. For the better understanding this report
carries Sainsbury Company which is the one of the leading supermarket chains of UK. It
basically provides wide range of goods and services such consumer durable goods, shopping as
well as utility items to consumer. This report cover discussion on digital disruption and impact of
digital disruption on retail sector along with that emphasis is made on role of data to build
effective business tool. Moreover, various types of job and skill required to build in respective
culture. Furthermore, questionnaire are made to send it to industry professional researching and
test the questionnaire on industry professional effectively (Larkin, 2017).
Set out what is digital disruption
Digital disruption is a gradual change that is caused by modern and new technologies and
business models. These new and upgraded technologies and models can impact the value of
existing products and services offered in the industry (Geissinger, Laurel and Sandström, 2018).
That is the reason why the term disruption is used, as the introduction of these new digital
products or services due to which businesses disrupts the current market and causes the need for
re-evaluation. Sainsbury's is the third largest chain of supermarket in UK a proper knowledge of
digital disruption has helped a company a lot. Companies know how important it is to use the
updated technology so that they can get attention of the customer towards their products.
Company also have a chief technology officer so that the focus can be given on the various
technologies and the introduction of new and customer centric technology (McQuivey, 2013).
One thing company needs to learn that digital disruption is an unstoppable force and
companies should have plans of how to tackle it. Digital disruption can be tackle by constantly
monitoring the changes which can come in technology and be a first mover to achieve
competitive advantage. It typically leads to change in the preferences of consumer. So what
Sainsbury’s did was to go with the needs and preferences of the customer and serving them
accordingly. The company has tried various techniques in their operation to take advantage of

digital disruption by that they were able to earn high revenue for a considerable period of time.
Retail business is a dynamic business where the interaction between the employees and customer
take place very frequently that why it is understandable digital disruption play a vital role in
retail business (Gilbert, 2015). A technology is introduced by the company where the customer
don’t have to stand in queue, scan and go solution enable the customer to scan the products they
purchased via mobile app. They can check out and pay afterwards without wasting any time and
energy. Sainsbury’s always take customer centric view while dealing with technology and that is
why they are so successful. Introduction of electronic bikes for delivery by the company was also
a step towards a pollution free society, this initiative caught lot of eyes and applause as it was for
the well being of the society. Using digital platform for the sale of grocery was also an initiative
taken by the company so that they can generate more sells. Company analyzed the shift of the
customer to internet and they used that to sell their product online. The experiment was
successful as they earned high revenue via online market too. Company also acquire Argos, it is
the second most viewed retail website in UK.
Impact on the retail sector with emphasis on the role of data as a business tool
The impact of digital disruption is very huge in company due to which they should have a
proper knowledge of disruption that can help a company in a long run. In context to Sainsbury’s
company was aware about digital transformation and used it as strength to do well in the
industry. They want to serve their customers well and by that wants to build an everlasting
relationship with them (Weill and Woerner, 2015). One of such digital change by the company
was bringing online and store experience together, scan and go is used by the company to make
life easy for the customer so that they can avoid huge queues and do their payment later via
application. The company believes that with the help of customer connecting with mobile apps
they can build relations with them. Like, company can make customer more engaging by sending
them lucrative offers which they can’t resist, resulting in active participation of the customers.
Moreover, selected company focuses on providing personalized experience to its customer. In
addition to it, users can redeem digital offers and rewards which will make their shopping a fun
event and by that company can initiate re-buy from its existing customers. The company is not
following the traditional way of loyalty program as they give rewards according to the frequency
of purchase by the customer (Kazan, Tan and Lim, 2014). The emergence of online store has
also made life easy for customer as they no longer need to visit any physical store to initiate

purchase. Customer can sit in their drawing room and scroll down various range of grocery
product in their mobiles and select the suitable product which they need and purchase them from
home only. Chop-chop app is introduced by some stores of Sainsbury’s where the delivery of
goods are done within one hour of placing order. These type of services has increased the
customer base of the company as more people are now interested to buy their product via online
medium. Company are keeping social responsibility in tact by using electronic bikes for
deliveries so that pollution can be eliminated from their side, this act was appreciated by the
public of London. The results are in increasing note for Sainsbury’s qua super-market; the firm
now boasts a £1.3 billion online business with a 12% growth year-on-year in orders. Some 5% of
those orders are now coming via the mobile app launched over the summer (Bughin and Van
Zeebroeck, 2017).
Furthermore, the company sales and the demand for its goods and services gets affected
due to digital disruption. Company has also appointed a chief digital officer whose task is to see
how company can improve digitally and how can they use the new upcoming and modern
technologies to their favor. With the growth of social media and its usage by the public of UK,
company switched to digital marketing to initiate their sales which came handy for the company.
With the help of digital marketing company can understand what actually the customer wants
and can serve them accordingly so that they can maintain relations with their customer and can
also focus in increasing the market share at the same time (Ford ,et.al., 2017). Three main
technologies Sainsbury is working at are:- faster supply chains to speed up the time it takes for
products to make it to our shelves; improved self-service checkouts to reduce queuing time; and
coupon-at-till technology that enables us to print targeted coupons on the products customers
what to buy.
Define types of jobs within the sector and the skills that will be required to build a successful
career
Digital disruption need to be tackled carefully so that it can work in favor of company
(Fraussen and Halpin, 2018). To do the same Sainsbury has recruited people to do the job in
retail sector and to overcome various problems which can arise. Sainsbury has recruit many
digital experts who can cope up with the problem and drive out new ideas for company’s
welfare. The type of job which the employees need to do is that they need to connect with public
online and find out what they want. They need to develop test as well and then launch the new

product by giving developers, digital designers, product owners, engineers and testers a modern
space to work and test new ways of shopping. Some infrastructure is also developed by the
company where they will be requiring a complete new staff for the digital job. A new technology
hub is what a company is opening which will be requiring huge human resources. With the
introduction of new technology, requirement arises of the staff so that to work on that very
technology. The shape of the company and the way they use to work early is changing and they
now majorly rely on digital and technological aspects, they believe that these two factor
combined together can help in growth in future. Experts who are employed in digital hub need to
work on providing the customer the best experience in online marketing so that they can get best
access and services to digital products of the company (Knickrehm, Berthon and Daugherty,
2016). The company believes that the retail sector is a vibrant force for innovation and adoption
of new technologies, with the help of the employee the company can overcome the stiff
competition in the retail sector. Specialist and experts are employed who not only tell which
technology to adopt but also helps in improving digital experience and developing new
technology which can make shopping experience a fun and comfortable thing for the company’s
customers. Company need staff who can work on their official website and they also need the
technicians who can upgrade their website on regular basis so that it is more customer centric.
Technicians are also working on company’s mobile application so that it can become more
advanced and easy to use by the customers (Karimi and Walter, 2015)
Some sets of skill employee need to have to get job in the retail sector for digital and
technological profile are like they should have technical knowledge, some jobs required expert
knowledge, and some required thorough idea of social media. Whereas, some primary skills the
company ask from employees are Expert data analysis, advanced social selling, mobile expertise,
multi platform UX design, network and information security, creative thinking (Iordanova and
Cunningham, 2012).
Roles within digital and technical
 Product ownership
 Software engineering
 Architecture

 Delivery
 Information security
 Service operations
Write an online research questionnaire to be sent to an industry professional
The online questionnaire are defined below:
 Outline some qualities of retail job?
 Experience with the difficult customers?
 When searching for a product online, what you look for?
 How can you make the mobile application more attractive?
 Will you buy groceries online or offline?
 In which type of services the public looks for a improvement?
 How will you react to a customer complain or if they have a suggestion for a company?
 If you are a customer, what you want from the employees handling your suggestions,
request and queries?
 What technique you will use to attract public to a new technology?
Write a discussion guide to use in face to face interview with an industry professional
The company generally follow standardized open ended interview where a candidate can
express the answer the way they want to (Kiron, et.al., 2016). Before doing an interview I need
to make plans of how to go through with the interview process. We should understand what is
requirement of the company and accordingly we should ask question in an interview. Interview
should be conduct in a peaceful environment so that there is no distraction and the concentration
can be maintained on the task in hand. Initially the reason for which the interview is conducted
should be made clear to the candidate so that there is no confusion or miscommunication. If there
is any confidentiality, the company should address to the candidate so that there is no leak of
information. Company should tell the client who will get access to their answers and how their
answers will be analyzed. We should tell the candidate the type and nature of the interview. Tell
them if they can ask questions in middle or if they have to wait till the end for their chance. You
should make the candidate comfortable and tell them for how long the interview going to last (if

it’s a lengthy interview). After the interview if you want them to get on touch you should
mentioned them clearly the various ways of getting in touch, be it email or via contact number.
Before starting the interview we should ask the candidate if he/she had any general question
regarding the company. Try to record interview so that you can analyze it thoroughly before
coming to a conclusion.
The interview should be start with general/basic question where the interviewer should
try to engage the candidate by asking them about the background, work experience etc. After that
the interviewer should some technical questions to check that the candidate have knowledge of
the subject or not. Some open ended question should be asked to see how the candidate is
expressing them to that type of question. Digital disruption, the interview should focus on
knowing how innovative the candidate are, if they have the expertise of the work or not. It is
recommended to conduct a test, which can be online and offline. Test should contain the
question related to the job, its technical aspect. People who cleared it should bought forward for
interview. As the job is for retail marketing the patience of the candidate should be checked, if
they have the temperament of handling customer or not. The interview should be designed in a
way that the candidate is getting the chance of asking questions, expressing their views and a bit
informal too at the same time.
Explain questionnaire and discussion guide on a member of a industrial
professional
The questionnaire made is related to check the candidate how they will react to a
particular condition. It is bit open ended in nature as the possibility and range of answer are
wide. After asking the question to a professional we got the following response from the retail
manager. Employee should be flexible, good with communication, strong customer service.
When asked about how to tackle difficult customer the answer was giving them clarity
and talking with them softly and finding out the solution for their problems. The question asked
was open ended and the answer we got was their views and they expressed themselves in front of
us. When asked about what you seek for while searching for a product online, the answer was
quality, timely availability. The answer we got from the questionnaire was helpful for the

company as well and it was effective in nature as the company got a picture of how to response
in a given situation.
The discussion guide helped in the proper conduction of the interview as all the factors
related to the interview were taken care of, it helped the interviewer to get the participation of
candidate and via that an active conversation in interview took place. Telling the candidate what
we expect from them and getting the response of the candidate related to the same made things
cleared. The research technique work efficiently as the answer related to the profile was
extracted properly and the reason was met properly for which whole thing was made. The whole
online research done was affective in nature. We could have added some close ended questions
too which were specific in nature. Some focus can be thrown on the technical aspect. Some rigid
questioning and answering by which the knowledge of the individual can be tested. The whole
focus should be on to get an able employee for a firm so that they can understand the customer
and alter accordingly.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that proper knowledge of digital disruption
can help a company to remain updated and by customer centric strategy can be formulated. By
using technological and digital platform the company can earn huge revenue by getting large
customer base. Moreover, company should focus on recruiting experts and specialist so that they
can develop a new technology which will help a company to be first mover. Thus, that will have
a company to gain competitive advantage for a short period of time.

REFRENCES
Books and Journal
McQuivey, J., 2013. Digital disruption: Unleashing the next wave of innovation.
Iordanova, D. and Cunningham, S., 2012. Digital disruption: Cinema moves on-line. St Andrews
film studies.
Karimi, J. and Walter, Z., 2015. The role of dynamic capabilities in responding to digital
disruption: A factor-based study of the newspaper industry. Journal of Management Information
Systems. 32(1). pp.39-81.2015.
Gilbert, R. J., 2015. E-books: A tale of digital disruption. Journal of Economic
Perspectives. 29(3). pp.165-84.
Weill, P. and Woerner, S. L., 2015. Thriving in an increasingly digital ecosystem. MIT Sloan
Management Review. 56(4). p.27.
Bughin, J. and Van Zeebroeck, N., 2017. The best response to digital disruption. MIT Sloan
Management Review, 58(4), pp.80-86.
Knickrehm, M., Berthon, B. and Daugherty, P., 2016. Digital disruption: The growth
multiplier. Accenture Strategy.
McQuivey, J., 2013. Digital disruption. Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation. Las Vegas:
Forrester Research.
Kiron, D., et.al., 2016. Aligning the organization for its digital future. MIT Sloan Management
Review. 58(1).
Geissinger, A., Laurell, C. and Sandström, C., 2018. Digital Disruption beyond Uber and Airbnb
—Tracking the long tail of the sharing economy. Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
Larkin, J., 2017. HR digital disruption: the biggest wave of transformation in decades. Strategic
HR Review. 16(2). pp.55-59.
Kazan, E., Tan, C. W. and Lim, E. T., 2014. Towards a framework of digital platform disruption:
A comparative study of centralized & decentralized digital payment providers. ACIS.
Fraussen, B. and Halpin, D., 2018. How do interest groups legitimate their policy advocacy?
Reconsidering linkage and internal democracy in times of digital disruption. Public
administration. 96(1). pp.23-35.
Ford, G., Compton, M., Millett, G. and Tzortzis, A., 2017. The role of digital disruption in
healthcare service innovation. In Service Business Model Innovation in Healthcare and Hospital
Management (pp. 57-70). Springer, Cham.