Management Issues at Oz Supermarket: Technology and Customer Service

This report analyzes the management challenges and technological implementations at Oz Supermarket. The supermarket has adopted PayWave technology and RFID systems to improve customer experience and streamline operations. The report examines the benefits of contactless payments, such as faster transactions and reduced queuing times, while also addressing potential barriers and skepticism from stakeholders. Furthermore, the report discusses the integration of RFID technology in shopping trolleys to enhance the shopping experience by displaying product details and prices. The report also explores the importance of customer service, employee training, and loyalty programs to maximize the benefits of the implemented technologies. By focusing on customer satisfaction, efficient operations, and adapting to the evolving business environment, Oz Supermarket aims to improve its business performance and retain its customers. The report emphasizes the need for continuous improvement, customer feedback, and a customer-centric approach to achieve sustainable growth.

Management Issues
1

Question 1
Nowadays, buying and shopping at big malls is becoming a day to day activity of every
metropolitan citizen. There has been huge rush in every malls and supermarkets during holidays
and weekends. The rush even gets more when there are any special discounts and special offers
for the customers. Oz supermarket, which has installed the PayWave technology and RFID
technology in its business operations, is very beneficial for both the customers and the
company(Almsalam, 2014). The number of customers at the stated organisation has increased
throughout Australia due to its cheap prices and quality products. Thus, continuous improvement
is to be done in the business operations to do the transactions of the customers more speedily and
accurately. Traditional billing system needs to be improved in the current shopping context of
the customers in order to enhance the quality of the shopping experience of the customers(Bacal,
2011). In order to overcome these issues, Oz supermarket have installed and adopted PayWave
technology at all its outlets and do not accept cash anymore. It is a modern technology regarding
which a customer has to wave his or her card at the entrance and then allowed entry. Contactless
payment technology has been successfully launched by many companies and Oz Supermarket is
among them. The technology is still in its expanding condition and has been accepted by many
organisations of different nations.
PayWave technology has been a successful hit in countries like Malaysia, South Korea,
US and is currently enhancing its market in Australia. Over 10 million Visa PayWave cards are
already in circulation around the globe(Bruch, 2017). It has been found in various studies
regarding PayWave technology that organisations that launched and implemented the PayWave
technology made the transactions 25% faster than the transactions made with cash. Involving
merchants such Oz Supermarket also gets benefit from this speedy transactions and convenience
of the customers as they don’t have to make any signature or enter their pin for their low value
purchases. The increase in the speed and convenience directly gets linked with the better
commercial performance. (Gures, Arslan & Yucel Tun, 2014) As for illustration, customers
paying with PayWave card at the Oz supermarket now take only four to six seconds to make a
transaction, as compared to the traditional magnetic stripe card which used to take more than 40
seconds in average. But there is scepticism amongst many stakeholders of the Oz supermarket
mainly the investors and the merchants who need to see the real benefit of this new technology.
2

With the execution of the contactless payments or the PayWave payment to
consumers, there have been many benefits and barriers to the technology stake and for the
customers. According to the survey conducted by Visa Commission regarding the views of the
customers on contactless payment in 2006, there was mostly favourable response from the
respondents. With the PayWave technology, customers now have to spend less time in
queues(Gures, Arslan & Yucel Tun, 2014). The PayWave transactions are significantly faster
than the traditional method of swiping cards, PIN or cash transactions, thus, holds the
potentiality to reduce the queuing time of the customers. The stated modern technology also has
great impact on the convenience of the customers. The contactless payments seem to be more
convenient way of making low-value transactions(Gures, Arslan & Yucel Tun, 2014). It is very
interesting that with the execution of PayWave transaction system, consumers instead of
fumbling for cash at vending machines, they just wave the card and go.
One of the perceived benefits of the PayWave cards or the contactless payments is the
simple ability of not carrying the change around. With it, the chance of losing money and risk of
any fraudulent transactions are also diminished. This was seen after the PayWave technology,
there has been reduction in the risk of losing money and the inconvenience of not having
adequate cash to pay for any item that consumer wanted to purchase(Jayshree, Gholap & Yadav,
2014). According to the survey of Visa, consumers are strongly attracted to the innovative and
modern or trendy aspects of contactless payments. As per many financial products, where the
security and reliability is the most important aspects for the customers, it has been noted that
PayWave technology delivers both vendors and the consumers the opportunity of greater
convenience along with an element of excitement and fun.
As per the implementation of PayWave technology, there will be a different business
situation for Oz supermarket. Though there will be many benefits for the company in
implementing the contactless payment method, the scale of any of the impact of the will be
highly situational(M S, 2013). There are many factors that impacts this modern technology such
as the percentage of business conducted during the peak hours, the intensity of the local
competition and the customer service model executed by the company(Morea, 2010). It is
evident that speed in the transaction process at a shopping centre is an important proportion and
thus makes the increased speed of the contactless payments a very crucial option.
3

As per the case study, Oz supermarket has also implemented the RFID technology in its
trolleys. Under this, system, all the products will be equipped with RFID tags. When a customer
puts any product in the trolley, the code will be detected and the price of those products will be
stored in the memory. As customers put the products, the costs will be added to the total bill of
the customer(Morea, 2010). All the details of the products and its pricing will be displayed on
the LCD display of the shopping trolley. With this system, consumers will have the information
about the price of every item that are scanned in, total billing of the items and will also be
outlined over the screen. This system will surely save the time of the purchasers and will also
reduce the manpower required in the mall and the cost associated in the product. With the
automatic billing system, consumers will not have to stand in queues for long time as billing will
automatically be done at the trolleys, and thus customers just have to wave the total amount
through their PayWave cards and go.
4

Question 2
With the improvement in technology, and with greater bank support, digital wallets and mobile
payments, the business transaction has been changed a lot in recent years. The consumption of
the modern technology has enhanced the point of sale in many organisations. It is evident that if
companies could provide better customer service and technology to the customers, they will
surely appreciate being able to use the digital wallet technology. There has been increment in the
customer experience with the contactless payments. With the PayWave technology, the time
consumed in the queues gets reduced with it(Oxford, Baschnonga & Wulgaert, 2017). One of the
major complaints with the traditional method of transaction such as card payment and PIN
payments is the time consumption. The time required in the terminal is more as compared to the
payments made with PayWave. As the consumers and vendors are getting habituated with this
longer transaction time, the faster option preferred by the contacts payments such PayWave,
which is implemented by Oz supermarket is very attractive to the customers(Oxford,
Baschnonga & Wulgaert, 2017). For Oz supermarket, keeping the lines moving quickly is a
method of improving the customer’s experience. Training and motivation the employees
regarding the contactless payments at the terminal, will surely help the management of stated
organisation in cutting down the transaction times.
Another thing that could be improved with the PayWave technology is the integrated
loyalty programs and the email receipts. Innovative loyalty programs and the paperless
interaction with the customers are also a very fantastic benefit of the merchants that could be
enables with the contactless payments. It is evident that in the current competitive business
environment, consumers always look for the value and convenience, and both of these could be
added with the advanced features of the contactless payments and the digital wallets(Oxford,
Baschnonga & Wulgaert, 2017). The adoption of contactless payments system at Oz supermarket
will surely enhance the customer shopping experience and the convenience. If Oz supermarket
could execute the loyalty programs and reward programs along with its PayWave technology, it
will surely push the customers in the adoption of the contactless payments.
With the digital loyalty programs, customers will have the option of exploring the digital
loyalty programs through any App market. Enhancing and building the customer loyalty through
a digital rewards program will motivate and even reward the customer for using the contactless
5

payments. Another thing that Oz supermarket could do to improve its service operations is
getting into an interaction with the customers. Getting into the conversation with the customers
and gathering their views about their shopping experience will surely provide important details
to the management of the Oz supermarket. With the implementation of PayWave technology and
the RFID technology in the trolleys, the management of supermarket not only gives benefit to the
customers but also provides assistance to them(Phair, 2016). With the implementation of the
modern technology, the management of Oz supermarket can reduce the transaction time of the
customers by automatically emailing receipts to the customers rather than printing the receipt.
There are always strategies that need to be executed by companies in order to improve
their services and to provide the superior quality of customer assistance. It is always important to
provide the demand of the customers irrespective of the trade of the company. Every business
enterprise in the current business context wants to attain more and more customers and wants to
deliver quality service to them(Morea, 2010). In order to provide quality customer service, it is
important for Oz supermarket to get professional in every field. Providing customers with high
quality products at cheaper rates than the competitors will help the stated firm in growing its
business. It is also important that the management gets in everyday interaction with its
customers(Morea, 2010). Just implementing the modern technology and forgetting about the
importance of customer’s feedback is evidently not a way to satisfy customers and improve
business. It is important that the stated firm understands the demands and requirements of the
customers clearly. It is also important to keep the interaction concise and clear.
Delivering a superior customer service is no longer an exceptional benefit as most of the
companies in this competitive business environment are trying to do their best in meeting the
consumers demand. Customer service is a key issue in every organisation that involves the entire
staff of the company from the executives to the lowest ranks workers, customers are the
foundation of any business(Oxford, Baschnonga & Wulgaert, 2017). It is important that Oz
supermarket delight its customers in order to keep its business into competition. Another reason
to develop the customer service is the business environment. The business environment of every
company is not stable, as many factors such as economic, legal and technological factors impact
the business condition. With the implementation of modern technology, it is also important to
take good care of the existing customers. Meeting the customer’s expectations can cause repeat
6

and enhanced business and lead to attract new customers. Every business enterprise understands
that the retention of the customers is very important. Meeting the customer’s expectation will
help the Oz supermarket in retaining its customers and in improving its reputation(Oxford,
Baschnonga & Wulgaert, 2017). The management of Oz supermarket must understand that
unless customer retention could not be formed, there will be very less chance for the company to
grow. It is also important that the organisational objectives, mission and vision of Oz
supermarket is also formed or altered according the customer orientation.
The consumption of the modern technology has enhanced the point of sale in many
organisations. It is evident that if companies could provide better customer service and
technology to the customers, they will surely appreciate being able to use the digital wallet
technology(Oxford, Baschnonga & Wulgaert, 2017). Oz supermarket in order to improve the
customer service could provide customers with high quality products at cheaper rates than the
competitors, which will help the stated firm in growing its business. Another thing that stated
firm could do is enhancing and building the customer loyalty through a digital rewards program
will motivate and even reward the customer for using the contactless payments.
7

References
Almsalam, S. (2014). The Effects of Customer Expectation and Perceived Service Quality on
Customer Satisfaction. International Journal Of Business And Management
Invention, 3(8), 79-84. Retrieved from
http://www.ijbmi.org/papers/Vol(3)8/I038079084.pdf
Bacal, R. (2011). Perfect phrases for customer service. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bruch, M. (2017). Customer Service. Retrieved from
https://www.uvm.edu/vtagritourism/files/customer-service-purdue-extension.pdf
Gures, N., Arslan, S., & Yucel Tun, S. (2014). Customer Expectation, Satisfaction and Loyalty
Relationship in Turkish Airline Industry. International Journal Of Marketing
Studies, 6(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijms.v6n1p66
Jayshree, G., Gholap, R., & Yadav, P. (2014). RFID Based Automatic Billing
Trolley. International Journal Of Emerging Technology And Advanced
Engineering, 4(3), 136-139. Retrieved from
http://www.ijetae.com/files/Volume4Issue3/IJETAE_0314_24.pdf
M S, S. (2013). RFID Based Automated Billing System Using Zigbee Embedded Into Shopping
Cart. IOSR Journal Of Business And Management, 14(6), 21-28.
http://dx.doi.org/10.9790/487x-1462128
Morea, D. (2010). Contactless Payments: The ‘Tipping Point’ Is at Hand.
Oxford, A., Baschnonga, A., & Wulgaert, T. (2017). Where next for mobile money?, 4(2).
Retrieved from
http://performance.ey.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/02/Performance-4.2-
January-2012-Journal-v17-p62p69.pdf
Phair, N. (2016). The Truth about Contactless Payments. Retrieved from
http://www.canberra.edu.au/cis/storage/Contactless%20payments.pdf
8

Trütsch, T. (2014). The Impact of Contactless Payment on Spending. International Journal Of
Economic Sciences, 3(4), 70-94. Retrieved from http://www.creditcards.ca/credit-card-
news/images/030416%20impact%20of%20contactless%20on%20spending.pdf
9