The Impact of Digital Technologies on SMEs: Nisa Retailer Research

This research report investigates the implications of digital technologies on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), using Nisa retailers in the UK as a case study. The study aims to determine the impact of digital technologies on the retail industry, identify the importance of digital tools in today's business environment, evaluate the impact on SME growth, recognize challenges faced by Nisa in utilizing digital technologies, and recommend effective strategies for business growth. The report includes a literature review discussing the application of digital technologies in the UK retail sector, examining how technology and retail operations go hand in hand. The research methodology section outlines an interpretivism philosophy, an inductive approach, and a descriptive research design. Data collection methods include primary and secondary sources, with a purposive sampling method. Data analysis employs a qualitative approach, with thematic evaluation of findings. The report also includes data analysis, presenting findings on employee experience, technical skills, and the most commonly used features of Nisa's website. The report concludes with reflections on the chosen methods, alternative research methodologies, and references. The findings are aimed at helping Nisa retailers make effective use of digital technologies for increasing their business growth.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
AND
RESEARCH PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
P1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................1
P2 LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................................3
P3- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................5
P4- DATA ANALYSIS...............................................................................................................7
P5- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................16
P6 Reflecting on the effectiveness of the chosen methods........................................................17
P7 Alternative research methodologies.....................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................19

P1 INTRODUCTION
Research Title:
The topic of the research is- “The implications of digital technologies on SME’s”.
Research aims and objectives-
A prior aim of this research work is “To determine the implications of digital
technologies on SME’s- A study on Nisa retailer of UK”. On whose basis, there together
exists some well-defined objectives for a timely attainment of the previously framed aim, as
mentioned below-
 To ascertain the application of digital technologies on retail industry of UK.
 To identify the need base importance of using digital technologies in the businesses of
today’s globalised era.
 To evaluate the way in which using digital technologies tends to impact upon the
growth of SME’s.
 To recognise the challenges that are usually being faced by Nisa while using digital
technologies in their business-related activities.
 To recommend ways in which Nisa retailer can make an effective use of digital
technologies for an increasing growth of their business.
Research questions- It is on the basis of the above intended goals and objectives of this
research work, below are some formulated research questions. This will assist the researcher
in a timely achievement of the undertaken aims within a specific time period.
 How the digital technologies are being applied in the retail industries of UK?
 Why it is important to use digitalized technologies by the businesses operating in
today’s contemporary era?
 How the use of digital technologies influences the growth of SME’s?
 What are challenges associated with the use of digital technologies in the business?
Study rationale:
This section is known to determine the research problem by together identifying the
reason behind its existence. Considering this, a proper use of digital technologies is referred
to be an utmost important agenda where the organisations adopting this approach is together
known to deal with some major number of challenges. This reflects to be a major issue while
applying such progressive measures into the business (Morgan-Thomas, 2016). It is an issue
because any discrepancy of digitalisation can directly result into violating people’s interest
and thus leads to lower the interest level of the buyers in purchasing the offered goods of.
1

This is for example to state about an instance that has led to breach any confidential data of
the customers without their consent.
2

P2 LITERATURE REVIEW
This is to discourse upon the application of digital technologies on the retail industry
of UK where technology and retail operations are known to go hand in hand in today’s
contemporary world. This is basically due to a tech savvy population with a rising demand of
the consumers to experience the technicalities while shopping. It is basically in accordance to
Palacios-Marqués, Soto-Acosta and Merigó (2015) where the UK retail stores have hit the
sales of £133 billion in the year 2016 which shows an increase of 16%. This has together
reflected an increased use of technology for the purpose of shopping where provisioning such
technical benefits is important for the retailers to stay ahead in the game of leading the
market.
Quinton and et. al. (2017) with a similar outlook have together presented some
considerate approaches that are usually being used by the retailers for the purpose of
attracting a large set of users towards their proposed goods and services. This is basically to
assist the buyers in making an easy purchase of services with the help of smartphone enabled
shopping apps. Also, several retailers are known to use web and mobile platforms to fetch the
interest of a large number of consumers by investing into website designing that is required to
be optimised for smartphones too. Also, in store technologies is referred to be yet another
essential application of digital technology adopted by most of the retailers along with an
incorporated facility of free WIFI for the customers to retain them for a longer time period.
This part has demonstrated few important prospects of digital technologies where rise
of innovation has been specified by Mohammadyari and Singh (2015), after 19th century the
world of technology has raised like a bullet. There has been a revolutionary change in ease of
doing business and marketing of products and services around the world. Today more and
more businesses are willing to expand digitally and earn more profits. Alizadeh and Sipe
(2015) with a distinct outlook have emphasised more upon the ease of storing and protecting
information. This is to keep company records secure and safe from its competitors and
hackers. Although, it is very important that one should have a strong security software.
Database helps in storing customers records so that it is easy to solve their complex problems.
It has also helped in better customer support.
Also, better decisions can be made with assistance of such progressive technologies as
stated by Hashim (2015) where to make the best decision it is very important for any business
to conduct an in- depth market research and then take decision. It can be done by using social
media platforms where various customers can give their feedback, video conferencing, etc.
Lastly, improved marketing strategies have also reflected as a beneficial aspect of using
3

digital technologies where it becomes easy for the retailers to attract customers. It is with a
foremost context of using social media tools, as specified by Du and et. al. (2013), where
today’s generation is found to be addicted of its use. It represents to be their information
provider tool that keeps them updated about the current market happenings.
Taiminen and Karjaluoto (2015) have stated a positive influence of using digital
technologies on the growth of SME organisations operating in the retail sector of UK.
Although, it is together associated with some major number of challenges that are required to
be faced by the enterprise at the time of implementing such progressive technical tools in
terms of information storage, etc. This is for example to state about one such instance of data
privacy where the retailers are hereby required to use such effective software’s that in turn
secure their stored data. It is with a special concern of storing any personal information of the
customers along with their payment related details, etc.
4

P3- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This is referred to be an important part of the research that helps the investigator to
choose from the best possible measures of studying (Research Methodology, 2015). It is not
only evident to assist the researcher in undertaking suitable methods, but also helps the
readers to clearly interpret the ideas presented by the carried investigation. Below are the
methods to be used to carry out the current research work-
Research Philosophy- An interpretivism philosophy of research has been used over here to
carry out the presently undertaken study on considering the subjective nature of the chosen
topic (Knobe and Nichols, 2013). However, another method of positivism is known to
support quantitative studies that is not effective for the recent subject matter.
Research Approach- An inductive approach of research has been selected for conducting this
investigation where it is apparent to broaden the overall scope of the study where another
tactic of deductive is known to contrarily diminish the entire scope of the research work.
Research Design- Descriptive design of research will be reflecting as the blueprint of this
study where it will lead to describe the ongoing happenings of Nisa in context to the use of
digital technologies (Creswell and Poth, 2017). Whereas, the other two measures namely
exploratory and explanatory are not referred to be useful in terms of applying in this study.
Data Collection- Both primary and secondary measures of data collection will be used for the
purpose of gathering sufficient amount of data relevant to the chosen subject matter. Here, the
primary data will be generated by conducting survey with a distinct approach of secondary
data collection. In which, the researcher is necessitated to scrutinize some previously carried
studies in a similar field of research.
Sampling- A purposive sampling method has been opted by the investigator over here. This is
due to a specific study based on a chosen retail-based organisation of UK named Nisa whose
25 technical experts will be interrogated with assistance of a directed survey (Levy and
Lemeshow, 2013). Random method of sampling is therefore not applicable in this study
where it led to a haphazard selection of participants.
Data Analysis- A qualitative method of analysis will be used for the purpose of assessing the
collected information on considering the subjective nature of the study. Herein, a thematic
evaluation of the acquired findings will be done for accomplishing the undertaken aims and
objectives of this research work.
Ethical Implications- This depicts the ethical concern of the researcher where any personal
data of the respondents must not be accessed by any unauthorised users (Quinton and Simkin,
5

2017). Also, the respondents should willingly contribute their participation in the study with
no use of any influential mean on them.
Research Limitations- A limited period of time for conducting such extensive study is
referred to be a major limitation over here. For which, the researcher is hereby required to use
a planned approach for carrying out this investigation. Here, a Gannt Chart can be used to
plan the entire study to complete it within a specified time period. Along with which,
activity-based method for the purpose of budgeting is also effective in terms of carrying out
the study within a stipulated budget.
6

P4- DATA ANALYSIS
Theme 1- The employment period of majority of workers is ranging from 3-4 years.
Since how many years, you are employed with Nisa
Retailers?
No of
Respondents
Percentag
e
6 months 4 16
1-2 years 6 24
3-4 years 8 32
More than 5 years 7 28
Interpretation- This is on interpreting the above enquired query where there exist
experienced technicians in Nisa working from a longer time period. It is on considering 8 out
of 25 employees who are employed since last 3-4 years with 7 working from more than 5
years and 6 from 1-2 years with only 4 employed since last 6 months.
Theme 2- Most of the technicians in Nisa are found to be enough proficient in their field of
work.
How would you rate your technical skills? No of
Respondents
Percenta
ge
Beginner who is not comfortable with the use of technology 2 8
Learner who is not willing to try out new technical tasks on
their own 8 32
Adequate technological skills who is comfortable with
familiar tasks 5 20
A proficient who is easy going with all sort of technical tasks 10 40
7

Interpretation- Most of the technicians are enough proficient in technical adaptions at Nisa
with 10 such workers. However, 8 out of 25 are learners who are not willing to attempt any
new assigned tasks based on advanced technology. 5 out of 25 have been found to have
adequate technical skills with a willing approach towards attempting any newly assigned
task. Lastly, only 2 out of 25 are referred to be beginners who are not at all adaptable with the
use of any new technical responsibilities.
Theme 3- Online payment is the most commonly used feature within the official website of
Nisa.
What feature is mostly offered by the official shopping
website of your organisation?
No of
Respondents
Percent
age
Online payment 7 28
Media rich content 5 20
Integration with social media 4 16
An optimized version for mobile users 6 24
All of the above 3 12
None of the above 0 0
8

Interpretation- This is on considering the most common feature in the official website of
Nisa where online payment is reported to be the one by 7 out of 25 participant respondents.
However, 6 out of 25 have reported provisioning an optimized version for the mobile users
with 5 in support of providing media rich content. 4 out of all have specified an integrated use
of social media with 3 in support of all above measures.
Theme 4- Paid search is the most common strategy used by Nisa to generate more traffic.
Which of the below mentioned strategies are being applied by Nisa
to direct traffic to its official shopping website?
No of
Responde
nts
Perce
ntage
Print advertising through newspapers and magazines 5 20
Social media promotion via Facebook or Twitter 4 16
Paid search via Google AdWords, pay- per- click 6 24
All of the above 5 20
None of the above 5 20
9

Interpretation- Strategy for generating more amount of traffic is specified to be a major
concern of almost all such organisations using digital technicalities in their business.
Considering this, a rigorous use of paid search has been reported to be done by Nisa in
accordance to 6 participants. However, 5 have supported the tactic of paid advertisement with
5 specifying the use of all stated measures with 5 who are not at all aware about any such
strategic use of Nisa.
Theme 5- A majority of respondents have reported a leading use of internet enabled
smartphones or tablets.
What are the Information and Communication Technologies
(ICT’s) that are being used by Nisa?
No of
Respondent
s
Percen
tage
Internet enabled smartphones or tablets 9 36
Companywide computer networks like LAN or WAN 7 28
Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM) 8 32
Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP) 1 4
10

Interpretation- Internet enabled smartphones and tablets is mostly being used as reported by
9 respondents as an ICT mean. It is with 8 such participants who have reported the use of
CRM software with 7 in support of LAN or WAN. Lastly, only a single respondent have
supported the use of ERP.
Theme 6- An improved quality of goods and services is referred to be an apparent benefit
after the adoption of ICT tools in Nisa.
Have you observed any of the below specified benefits in the
business from the adoption of ICT tools?
No of
Respondent
s
Percen
tage
Reduced operational costs 6 24
Satisfied employees 4 16
Improved quality of goods and services 10 40
Reduced transaction time 5 20
11

Interpretation- It is in accordance to 10 out of 25 respondents who have stated a pivotal
benefit of ICT tools in improving the quality of the offered goods and services with 6 who
specified about reduced operational costs with help of ICT. Lastly, 5 have found to be
assisted from a lowered transaction time with 4 who have observed more satisfied employees
at the workplace.
Theme 7- Several number of changes have been reported by most of the participants.
Are there any changes that took place in Nisa after the
implementation of ICT?
No of
Respondents
Percent
age
Greater sharing of information 6 24
Greater level of integration between both online and offline
business activities 5 20
Greater reliance on multi-tasking and job rotation 7 28
Easy storage, maintenance and collection of data 7 28
12

Interpretation- This is on considering the fact where adoption of ICT tools has also resulted
in bringing many changes in the organisations. Herein, most of the respondents with an
enumerated ration of 7 have stated about a greater reliance on rotational jobs and multitasking
have been observed. It is with other 7 who have also reported an easy storage of data with
easy maintenance and collection. However, 6 have stated about a greater information sharing
with 5 in support of a greater level of integration among both online and offline business
activities.
Theme 8- Website designing is referred to be the most expended area by Nisa on adoption
of ICT services.
What is the most expended area while adopting from the
below referred ICT services?
No of
Respondents
Percent
age
Cloud computing 6 24
Website designing 10 40
Database services 5 20
Data processing services 4 16
Hosting services 0 0
No such expenditures 0 0
13

Interpretation- Here, the participants were asked to respond towards the expenditure done by
Nisa for the implementation of ICT tools where 10 out of 25 have reported a major spending
in the area of website designing. It is with 6 such respondents who have stated in favour of
cloy computing and 5 in the provisioning of database services. Lastly, 4 out of all have stated
about data processing services with no one in support of hosting related services.
Theme 9- A limited control over accessing the data is known to be used by Nisa to protect
any personal information of its customers.
How does Nisa refers to protect the personal information of its
customers stored in an electronic format?
No of
Respondent
s
Percen
tage
Limited access control 12 48
Encrypted information 6 24
Protecting data with assistance of third party 7 28
14

Interpretation- Nisa in accordance to 12 of its technicians is known to give a limited access
of controlling the data as a way of protecting the personal information of its customers.
However, 7 have stated about taking assistance of third party to protect the data of its
consumers with 6 who have specified about the use of encrypted information.
15

P5- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This is to conclude the above undertaken research work that was based on four main
objectives with a foremost intent of ascertaining the application of digital technologies on
retail industry of UK. This objective has been achieved with findings revealing various
strategic measures that are commonly being used by the retail-based entities in UK. Herein,
Nisa is also found to use ICT tools as a way of adopting digital technicalities in their
business-related activities. Next attainable objective was to identify the need base importance
of using digital technologies in the businesses of today’s globalised era where it is found to
be an utmost important agenda of today’s globalised businesses to earn higher level of
profits. It is being done with the help of attracting a large set of consumers in the
contemporary world getting habitual of social media tools and other such technical
progressions.
Another prime objective was to evaluate the way in which using digital technologies
tends to impact upon the growth of SME’s. Here, it has been found that there exists a positive
influence of such technologies in the firm where it directly results in raising the profitability
status of the establishments. Lastly, this study was intended to recognise the challenges that
are usually being faced by Nisa while using digital technologies in their business-related
activities. Considering this, it has been found that making huge investments in bringing
technical advancements in the organisation is a major challenging aspect of the organisations
like Nisa. Moreover, protecting consumers data with a special concern of securing their
patent related information is yet another challenging agenda.
It is thus on referring to the above concluded findings, Nisa is recommended to
undertake effective measures for the concerning agenda of safeguarding their client’s data.
For which, they may refer using secured ways of doing so and investing more into the
adoption of proven software’s. Apart from this, they are also suggested to operate with a
planned budget to spend more on the areas of marketing and R&D to firstly ascertain the
actual demands of the clients prevailing nowadays and then undertake the step of making
rigorous spending in the area of technical adaptations. This way will together assist them to
choose from the right tools and fulfil the exact requirements of their clients.
16

P6 Reflecting on the effectiveness of the chosen methods
This is to reflect upon the effectiveness of the chosen measures to investigate the
current research work. It is hereby on considering the use of qualitative research
methodologies, it has been found that it is sufficient in terms of conducting those studies
which are based on theoretical facts and data. It also supports in carrying out an in-depth
study to further attain a relevant set of information and analyse the same for an ultimate
achievement of intended research aim.
P7 Alternative research methodologies
On referring to certain alternative methods that can be used to undertake this
investigation, it has been found that some quantitative measures of research namely SPSS and
other such statistical tools can be assistive to get a more reformed result. These are also
apparent in providing accurate data to analyse and reach to the requisite objectives. It will
involve the acquisition of values for mean, mode and median to compare among them for
getting desired research outcomes.
17

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Alizadeh, T. and Sipe, N., 2015. Brisbane's digital strategy: an economic strategy for the
digital age?. Australian Planner. 52(1). pp.35-41.
Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2017. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing
among five approaches. Sage publications.
Du, J. and et. al., 2013. Knowledge networks and technological capabilities of SMEs: the role
of technology strategies and its implications for knowledge service intermediaries. Asian
Journal of Technology Innovation. 21(sup2). pp.80-98.
Hashim, J., 2015. Information communication technology (ICT) adoption among SME
owners in Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Information. 2(2).
Knobe, J. and Nichols, S. eds., 2013. Experimental philosophy (Vol. 2). Oxford University
Press.
Levy, P.S. and Lemeshow, S., 2013. Sampling of populations: methods and applications.
John Wiley & Sons.
Mohammadyari, S. and Singh, H., 2015. Understanding the effect of e-learning on individual
performance: The role of digital literacy. Computers & Education. 82. pp.11-25.
Morgan-Thomas, A., 2016. Rethinking technology in the SME context: Affordances,
practices and ICTs. International Small Business Journal. 34(8). pp.1122-1136.
Palacios-Marqués, D., Soto-Acosta, P. and Merigó, J.M., 2015. Analyzing the effects of
technological, organizational and competition factors on Web knowledge exchange in
SMEs. Telematics and Informatics. 32(1). pp.23-32.
Quinton, S. and et. al., 2017. Conceptualising a digital orientation: antecedents of supporting
SME performance in the digital economy. Journal of Strategic Marketing. pp.1-13.
Quinton, S. and Simkin, L., 2017. The digital journey: Reflected learnings and emerging
challenges. International Journal of Management Reviews. 19(4). pp.455-472.
Taiminen, H.M. and Karjaluoto, H., 2015. The usage of digital marketing channels in
SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 22(4). pp.633-651.
Online
Research Methodology. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/studyskills/assessment_evaluation/
dissertations/methodology.html>
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APPENDIX
Name-
Gender-
Age-
 Since how many years, you are employed with Nisa Retailers?
6 months
1-2 years
3-4 years
More than 5 years
 How would you rate your technical skills?
Beginner who is not comfortable with the use of technology
Learner who is not willing to try out new technical tasks on their own
Adequate technological skills who is comfortable with familiar tasks
A proficient who is easy going with all sort of technical tasks
 What feature is mostly offered by the official shopping website of your
organisation?
Online payment
Media rich content
Integration with social media
An optimized version for mobile users
All of the above
None of the above
 Which of the below mentioned strategies are being applied by Nisa to direct traffic
to its official shopping website?
Print advertising through newspapers and magazines
Social media promotion via Facebook or Twitter
Paid search via Google AdWords, pay- per- click
All of the above
None of the above
 What are the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) that are being
used by Nisa?
Internet enabled smartphones or tablets
Companywide computer networks like LAN or WAN
19

Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)
Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)
Any other, please specify________________
 Have you observed any of the below specified benefits in the business from the
adoption of ICT tools?
Reduced operational costs
Satisfied employees
Improved quality of goods and services
Reduced transaction time
Any other, please specify________________
 Are there any changes that took place in Nisa after the implementation of ICT?
Greater sharing of information
Greater level of integration between both online and offline business activities
Greater reliance on multi-tasking and job rotation
Easy storage, maintenance and collection of data
 What is the most expended area while adopting from the below referred ICT
services?
Cloud computing
Website designing
Database services
Data processing services
Hosting services
No such expenditures
Any other, please specify_______________
 How does Nisa refers to protect the personal information of its customers stored in
an electronic format?
Limited access control
Encrypted information
Protecting data with assistance of third party
Any other, please specify_______________
 Anything else you would like to share with us about the technical adoption of Nisa?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
20

___________________________________________________________________________
21