Decision Making Report: Impact of Multichannel Platforms on Retail

This report investigates the impact of multichannel platforms on high street shops and malls, focusing on how technological innovations and shifting consumer preferences from offline to online shopping influence business decision-making. A primary research methodology, including survey questionnaires distributed to 100 UKCBC College students, was used to collect data on preferences, brand loyalty, and perceptions of online versus offline shopping. The study employs statistical techniques such as mean, median, mode, and correlation coefficients to analyze the collected data, revealing a trend towards the adoption of multichannel platforms, particularly among younger generations. Qualitative data, gathered from interviews with managers from high street shops, malls, and e-commerce companies, provides insights into the economic impacts and operational adjustments required to maintain competitiveness. The report also examines the role of transaction processing systems (TPS), management information systems (MIS), and decision support systems (DSS) in supporting various levels of management, alongside financial tools like NPV and IRR for investment decision-making.

Business Decision Making

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................5
Planning the survey......................................................................................................................5
a) Create a plan for collecting data from students across all campuses...................................5
b) Present the survey methodology and sampling frame used................................................5
c) Design a questionnaire for collecting the data.....................................................................6
Qualitative data collection...........................................................................................................9
In what way has the multichannel platforms impacted the high street shops and Malls?.......9
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................10
Summarizing and analyzing the data.........................................................................................10
a) Summaries the data collected from the survey using representative values (arithmetic
mean, median and mode).......................................................................................................10
b) Analyze the results of the survey and draw conclusions...................................................11
c) Analyze the data using measures of dispersion.................................................................11
d) Explain how you can use quartiles, percentiles and the correlation coefficient to draw
useful conclusions..................................................................................................................12
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................14
Presentation and report making of the findings.........................................................................14
a) With the help of spreadsheets graph has been produced to bring valid conclusion as per
the survey...............................................................................................................................14
b) Create trend lines in spreadsheet graphs to show the level of impact over a minimum of 3
years.......................................................................................................................................21
c) Prepare a poster presentation in class of your findings.....................................................23
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d) Write a formal report for publication in the Retail Times magazine................................23
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................25
a) How do the following systems serve the various levels of management in a business? You
are to describe their characteristics and the roles they play in a business.................................25
I. Transaction processing systems (TPS)...............................................................................25
II. Management information systems (MIS).........................................................................25
III. Decision support systems (DSS).....................................................................................25
b) A publisher has just signed a contract for the publication of a book. What is the earliest date
that the book can be ready for distribution based on the following activities with time
estimates:...................................................................................................................................26
c) Using financial tools for decision-making advice a business planning on investing in a
project........................................................................................................................................26
d) If the rate of finance at which the business can borrow is 10% calculate the NPV and advice
if it is worth considering this investment...................................................................................26
e) Calculate the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and explain the meaning of the result..............27
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................28
Reference List................................................................................................................................29
Appendix:......................................................................................................................................30
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Introduction
High Street shops and malls have been impacted due to the advent of technological innovations
and multichannel shopping platforms. The impact has been in terms of their popularity. Recent
news points to the fact that consumers of the UK have shifted from offline platforms to online
shopping (BBC News, 2018). This has led to the development of Multichannel Selling Platforms.
The multichannel platforms are gradually adopting online platform for their operations (Wright,
2018). They are also adopting new technologies such as modern decision making systems which
has aided towards increasing the profitability of the business.
This research aims to analyse how these traditional malls and shops are being affected. Further,
this research also identifies how this changing trend has influenced the decision making of these
traditional retail platforms. The research will adopt a robust research methodology to conduct the
study.
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Task 1
Planning the survey
a) Create a plan for collecting data from students across all campuses.
In order to effectively analyse the impact, an effective data collection has to be adopted. There
are two methods of collecting data. They are Primary data collection and secondary data
collection method. In Primary data collection method real time data is collected and is called the
primary data. Data from previously published research, reports, news releases, etc. are called
Secondary Data. The major challenge of secondary data is in terms of its scope and relevance of
use. Hence, this research will consider primary research methodology as the method of research.
A primary research uses survey questionnaire and interviews to gather and record relevant
information about the population considered for the study.
Primary research is associated with a sample which is an effective representation of the
population for study. In this research, the sample size of 100 pupils of the UKCBC College has
been considered. They are randomly selected. The Survey questionnaire method has been used as
the intended data collection tool. The questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions has been
distributed to the intended pupils during the Tiffin hours in the college campus.
The Ethics of Research has been adhered in this study through written permission from the
authority of the UKCBC. However, this research has been challenged through certain limitations
pertaining to the Time and Costs. The duration of the study and the Tiffin break has short time
span which has posed a hindrance. Further, the cost of purchasing relevant online journals has
also been a pressing concern.
b) Present the survey methodology and sampling frame used
There are broadly two methods of Data sampling which are Probabilistic Sampling method and
Non-Probabilistic Sampling Method. The non-probabilistic method of sampling is the ineffective
method of communication (Saunders, 2011). This method is not the appropriate representation of
the population. Hence, this method will result in ineffective research conclusion. The most
effective method is the Probabilistic sampling method because it forms the most accurate
representation of the population of the study. Among the various Probabilistic sampling methods
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the most effective method is the Random Sampling method. In random sampling method, a
random table is used to randomly identify the sample from the total population. This effectively
ensures that the each of the participants has equal opportunity of being selected in the sample.
Hence, this research will consider this method for selecting the sample for this research.
The primary research method will record both the Qualitative and the Quantitative data. Survey
method will be used to record the quantitative data while the Interview method will be used to
collect the Qualitative data. For the quantitative information, the selected sample will be
surveyed through the questionnaire. Interviewing 2 managers from the High Street Shops and
Malls and 1 Manager from a selected E-Commerce company will provide the Qualitative data.
c) Design a questionnaire for collecting the data.
The following section will provide the intended survey questionnaire required for collecting the
primary data. Further, the section will also provide the structured responses to the questionnaire.
1. Specify your gender
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Bellow 20 30 30 100
20 to 24 46 46 100
24 and above 24 24 100
Table: 2: Gender of the respondents.
2. Specification of the age
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Male 50 50 100
Female 48 48 100
Others 2 2 100
Table: 1: Age of the given respondents
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This portion of the questionnaire is aimed at recording the background of the sample and
acquaints them about the survey. The responses reveal that about 50 percent of the respondents
are male and 48 percent are female.
3. Do you accept that online shopping is more acceptable than offline shopping?
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Highly agree 40 40 100
Agree 29 29 100
Neutral 03 03 100
Disagree 10 10 100
Highly disagree 18 18 100
Table: 3: respondents’ opinion on the preference of the mode of shopping (online/offline)
4. Do you choose multichannel platforms or high street shops?
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Yes 62 62 100
Neural 03 38 100
No 35 35 100
Table: 4: respondents’ opinion regarding whether they prefer multichannel platforms over
high street shops
5. Do you accept that online websites provide more discounts than the offline shops?
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Highly agree 42 42 100
Agree 24 24 100
Neural 03 03 100
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Disagree 15 15 100
Highly disagree 16 16 100
Table: 5: respondents’ opinion about the fact that online websites give more discounts than
offline shops
6. How often do you modify your preferred shopping channels?
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Very frequently 40 40 100
frequently 29 29 100
Neural 02 02 100
Sometimes 14 14 100
Not at all 15 15 100
Table: 6: shopping channel changing frequency
7. How often do you modify your preferred brand?
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Very frequently 16 16 100
frequently 13 13 100
Neural 03 03 100
Sometimes 29 29 100
Not at all 39 39 100
Table: 7: respondents’ frequency for sticking to one brand
8. Will you suggest your peers to buy from multinational platforms rather than buying
from high street shops?
Options Percentage of Number of Total number of
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respondents respondents respondents
Yes 68 68 100
Neural 05 05 100
No 27 27 100
Table:8: Respondents proposal to peers and mates to shift to multinational platforms
Qualitative data collection
In what way has the multichannel platforms impacted the high street shops and Malls?
Respondent Response
Manager 1
Multichannel platforms are widely accepted by the youngsters and have become a
major factor towards setting the future trend. This change has impacted the high
street shops and malls economically.
Manager 2
Multichannel platforms are comparatively cost effective than the traditional high
street shops and malls. Consumers feel that multichannel platforms are convenient
alternative to high street shop and hence are churning out. This has seriously led the
managers of high street shops to consider online platform for their business. This
seems to be the only way to increase the competitive advantage in increase the
sustainability of the business.
Manager 3
The multichannel platform has introduced innovation and has made the market more
competitive. The use of multichannel platform has definitely increased the
effectiveness of operation and also decreasing the cost of operation. However, they
have not been able to affect the profitability of the high street shops and malls.
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Task 2
Summarizing and analyzing the data
a) Summaries the data collected from the survey using representative values (arithmetic
mean, median and mode)
Mean, Median and Mode are the statistical technique used to determine the Central tendency of
the collected data.These methods effectively perform the basic analysis of data and summarises
the information obtained from the survey.
Q.3 Do you accept that online shopping is more acceptable than offline shopping?
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of respondents Total number of
respondents
Highly agree 40 40 100
Agree 29 29 100
Neutral 03 03 100
Disagree 10 10 100
Highly disagree 18 18 100
Mean Median Mode SD
2.1875 2 1 1.019975
How often do you modify your preferred brand?
Options Percentage of
respondents
Number of
respondents
Total number of
respondents
Very frequently 16 16 100
frequently 13 13 100
Neural 03 03 100
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Sometimes 29 29 100
Not at all 39 39 100
Mean Median Mode SD
2.2 2 2 0.959958
CorrelationCoefficient: 0.9178882
b) Analyze the results of the survey and draw conclusions
It is clear from the analysis that the trend has inclined towards the adoption of Multichannel
platforms. These multichannel platforms are more accepted and used by the young generation.
Their popularity is evident from the responses collected from the sample. It can also be noted
that this generation is less brand loyal and can easily churn out from their preferred brand. It is
clear that the needs of the younger generation are very fluctuating and ever changing. Hence for
organisation to sustain themselves among these target customers, they have to adopt innovative
methods and strategies which in this case is the Online Shopping Platform. Further, it also be
argued that, the quality of the product is no longer a competitive advantage but rather transcends
to the nature of shopping platform used by the brands. As Innovations are critical elements
towards the sustenance of a business in this competitive market, traditional high street shops and
malls has to adopt the ecommerce and multichannel platforms to upgrade the shopping
experience they deliver to their customers.
c) Analyze the data using measures of dispersion
The mean, median and Mode are the techniques to measure the central tendency of a set of data.
The Mean is the simple average of a set of values. The mean of the third question is 2.1875 and
that of the seventh question is 2.2.
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The Median can be calculated using the scope of values. For both the questions, the median
value has been calculated to be 2. The high probability response is marked with the likert scale 1
and negative probability is marked with likert scale 4. This means that the respondents
responding the value according to Likert Scale 1 can be easily upgraded to Likert Scale 2. This
means that, there is high chance of increasing the rate of customer churning in terms of the
customer choices. Hence, these customers can be highly influenced towards shifting to a
different brand very easily. The Mode is calculated using the highest rate of occurrences of the
responses. The mode for the third question is 1 and for the seventh question the value is 2. A
modal value of 2 represents that most of the respondents prefer online shopping over offline.
Hence, most of the customers perceive online shopping to be superior than that of the offline
shopping.
The standard deviation is utilised to conduct risk analysis. It is evident that there is a high
probability of the multiplatform channels to capture the market and jeopardise the sustainability
of the high street shops and shopping malls. Hence, the high street shops and shopping malls will
have to consider adopting the multichannel platform or ecommerce business channels.
A standard deviation is between 0 and 1, then the risk is said to be high. This means that a value
of 1.019975 means that risk is very high. The question concerns with the churning behaviour of
the customers. Further, the high probability of churning is represented by 1 and highly negative
option is represented by 4.Hence, if the standard deviation is high, then the customers will be
more prone to churning. A Standard deviation of 1.019975 is greater than one hence the risk of
churning is very high.
d) Explain how you can use quartiles, percentiles and the correlation coefficient to draw
useful conclusions
There three types of arithmetic modes used in data analysis. These are quartiles, percentiles and
correlation coefficient. These measures will effectively help to analyse the recorded data and
come to a relevant conclusion.
The method of quartile divides the data set at three major points. These points are determined
using the methods of median, lower quartile and upper quartile. A quartile is effectively the 25
percent of the total values of observation. The Percentile is a method which is used to identify
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