Prospect of online sales in the future.

Accompanied by the organisational structure change, some other aspects have also been changed, such as:

• Marketing and education changes.

Teleshopping operators and information providers, including those providing shopping opportunities, need to work together to expand the marketing support for the services. Education on how can we access Teleshopping efficiently and effectively needs to be improved and expanded. It’s key to position Teleshopping as consumer” rather than computer” or technical products. In the next generation, more people will accept Teleshopping; we should not write off significant portions of the rest of the population by properly marketing to and educating them. (Anon, 1997)

• Service and product changes.

The quality, quantity and variety of services available via Teleshopping in general need to be enhanced. Specifically, the breadth and depth of merchandise available through Teleshopping needs to be dramatically improved. This involves a little of the chicken and egg” problem. Why should retailers add more merchandise until there is a large number of consumers who use Teleshopping? On the other hand, why should consumers get excited about shopping via Internet until there is a satisfactory mix of merchandise available? Some retailers need to bite the bullet and help make shopping a significant reality by providing the quality and selection of merchandise desired by consumers. (Anon, 1996)

• Industry and systems changes.

Organisations such as telephone companies, major media and entertainment companies and small and large retailers need to get more involved with and support the development of OLCISs. Strategic alliances and other systematic working relationships need to be developed. The payback for such activities will be limited in the short run but with the proper support now the benefits to all participants should be significant in the future. (Anon, 1998a)

• Ease of using changes.

While the term has been overworked, user friendly” is a necessary ingredient for the expanded use of Teleshopping. All Teleshopping organisations should work together to provide easy-to-use interfaces and enhanced interactivity, Retailers need to make it easy for consumers to do business with them, to get desired information, to place an order and to have the merchandise delivered in a prompt and efficient manner. (Anon, 1999a)

If traditional retailers are to avoid being disintermediated, they will need to focus on the process of shopping as a source of entertainment, pleasure and social intercourse, on the tactile and visual appeal of their goods, and on the quality of their service. They will also need to develop a technical infrastructure and products range to capture electronic shoppers. (Kare-Silver, 1998)

2.  WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The world we live in today is far beyond the imagination of people at the beginning of this century. Who would realise the scene of today, for instance, that the first PCs were only introduced in Europe at the beginning of the 1980s? In 1996 there are 72 PCs per 100 office workers in Europe, in the USA is 104! And already 24.5 million of Europe’s 143 million households have personal computers at home. (Anon, 1997)

Telephone penetration, which was 87% in 1990, has gone up to 96%. Today, in Europe, already more than 9 million of those users have ISDN facilities, a number that is expected to grow to 24 million at the end of 1999. The first digital mobile phones were available in Europe in 1993. Today there are almost 18 million subscribers in Europe, and over 41 million worldwide in more than 70 countries, and this is expected to grow to 200 million users at the end of the millennium. (Anon, 1999b) How does this link in to the changes in the way we live and work? Information technology no longer requires a shop to go shopping, or a workplace to work. It creates new forms of work and shopping. Society’s adoption of information technology also changes expectations about where and how to work and shop, and how government policies advance or hinder the transition to the Information Age. (Anon, 1998b)

Changing expectations about these issues place the home in a new role. In other words, information technology allows one to expect a higher quality of life centred on the home, and the home’s role is greatly expanded. It now must be an activity centre where works and shopping coexist within the shelter. Increasingly, the home is also a technology platform. (Anon, 1998b)

Information technology will influence homebuyers by changing their expectations about how the home improves the quality of life; The PC and the Internet are replacing the automobile as factors influencing life-style. In a wired world personal mobility takes on a new meaning and generates new expectations. (Haag et al, 1998)

Work in a Wired World. A hallmark of the Information Age is organisational change (Geoffrey, 1996). Information technology restructures the command and control organisation into a flatter, networked system of relationships based on teams, and core and contingent employees. Home building is a good example of what corporate America is seeking to achieve the developer, general contractor and subcontractor model. The parties come together on a project then needed” to fulfil a specific goal. Upon completion the relationship dissolves until a new project. Organisational continuity resides with the developer’s core team.

California’s role in setting trends also has profound implications for housing. Information technology, by allowing jobs to follow the people, creates the networked organisation (Anon, 1999a) The movement to an Alternative Workplace (“AW”) strategy by large corporations embodies this technological leverage. (Mahlon, 1998)

30 million to 40 million people are either telecommuting or home-based workers (Anon, 1997), and California leads the way. Wired workers represent 57% of California workers. They have a strong preference for flexible work schedules and 30 % would prefer to telecommute all the time (Anon, 1998b). The number of employees communicating with their offices by computer and fax is 20% higher than the national average. In cities like Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, and Santa Rosa the number of employees is 46 –73% higher than the national average. (Hausman, 1998)

The AW movement recognises many employees no longer need the degree of supervision traditional managers. They can perform their jobs in a largely self-directed manner. AW requires information literacy. The movement also knows many business tasks do not require the aggregation of employees at a central location and AW is necessity to retain highly motivated people. (AW, 1998)

AW increases employee productivity (Anon, 1997). Conversely, productive employees expect AW amenities. One intangible benefit of AW is the value employees’ place on increased personal time and control. Commuting to the office is seen as an unproductive, morale sapping, debilitating ritual whose time has passed. Increasingly employers will encourage more time spent at telecommuting centres or in the home-office for many knowledge workers.

Over the next several years various forms of online buying will entice consumers to change their shopping habits and make the home the shopping centre for everyday products branded goods and restocking items. This, however, does not change the preference of recreational and speciality shopping outside the home. (Kare-Silver, 1998)

The majority of workers in the past have been located in offices, shops and factories. In the information age, teleworking emerged to replace the traditional style. Stanworth (1998) defined teleworking as someone who works at a place other than where the results of work are needed using information and communication technologies.

Teleworking makes some of the workers more productive. There are already about 33% teleworkers in Retail/Wholesale industries. Several incentives are contributing to this trend:

• Legislative

The clean Air Act (1990) requires that businesses in large cities employing more than 100 people in one location reduce their employees’ commute time by 25 percent. Furthermore, in Southern California, each company’s impact on air pollution is monitored, and those that exceed the limit are fined up to $25,000. These measures are expected to create about 15 million teleworking jobs in California alone. With telecommuting, employees can work at home so you’re not totally without their services, and they will receive a pay check (Markham, 1998)

• Productivity

Many companies are finding that a teleworking program can greatly improve productivity and reduce overhead costs. They can increase productivity by saving workers the time it takes to commute and work from the office. They can use this time attending to customer service or other business-related tasks. Companies save the cost of office space, heating, air conditioning, electricity, water, and so on. (Anon, 1998b)

• Teleworkers located in other states

Many situations make teleworking a good choice for employer and employee. For example, you may want to retain an experienced employee who has relocated. Or you may want to attract knowledge workers who don’t want to move to your location. FedEx, for example, has opened several regional data centres so that worker doesn’t have to move to Tennessee. (Johnson, 1997)

• Teleworkers located in other countries

With teleworking, you can even employ workers living in other countries. (Vanderwielen, 1998)

3.  MANAGEMENT ISSUES

The nature of work and the workplace has changed dramatically over the last two decades. These changes evolutionary from a technological standpoint and revolutionary in creating a new realm of management issues have resulted in both the opportunity and the need for flexible work arrangements. (Johnson, 1997)

The new management challenges management traditions. It means a significant change in how we think about work and supervising employees. (Johnson, 1997) Teleworking moves the work to wherever the people are giving the term office’ new meaning. It means breaking away from the idea that supervisors have to remain in a central location and manage by observation. (Vanderwielen, 1998) Teleworking strongly brings forth the issues of employee trust and empowerment. It also brings up supervisory challenges to keep teleworkers and integral part of the office team. Don’t assume that you don’t have the right tools for teleworking. You do. Existing supervisory skills translate well when overseeing teleworkers. Basic management skills are just as important for teleworkers as they are for people in the office. But you may need to tailor your supervision for those working at home by focusing more on results and less on observing your employees hard at work. (Anon, 1997)

Managers should also notice the following points: (Johnson, 1997)

• Use planning skills to effectively distribute work so that in-office personnel and teleworkers are treated equally.
• Make the most of time spend with remote workers to coach and develop the teleworker’s capabilities. Quickly enforce positive behaviour and bring unsatisfactory performance to the employee’s attention.

Moving managers from leaders to co-ordinators

What they have discovered about managing in the teleworking area is particularly useful for would-be adopters of this form of work-style. According to Bakke (1995), the middle manager may have to take on tasks as a contact person for the teleworker, and provide administrative support beyond what we are used to at today’s level. He or she must ensure that the co-ordination of work between teleworkers and office-based workers is taken care of, also keeping an eye on team relations and making sure that relationships to colleagues are maintained. Bakke’s view on all this is that the manager or supervisor’s role will begin to change from being a leader to becoming more of a co-ordinator or facilitator. For instance, in team-based organisations, where the role of the manager is more to influence team behaviour. Would-be telework promoters may find that a visit to Scandinavia to see how it does it is not at all a bad idea.

In the USA, Pacific Bell’s experience coincides with Bakke’s observations. They have found that just as critical to the success of a teleworking arrangement is the role of the managing supervisor. As with a teleworker, there are prevalent traits that help to make telework work:

• An innovative and flexible approach to managing subordinates
• An open, positive attitude towards teleworking
• Facilitates an open channel for communication
• A mutual trust and respect in ongoing relations with the teleworker
• Above-average organisational and planning skills
• The provision of regular feedback

• The ability to establish clear objectives and measurement and to evaluate results

Natalie Fay of the Bay Area Telecommuting Assistance Project in California makes some further suggestions when it comes to supervisors measuring job performance. A successful performance evaluation process, requires that supervisors and employees jointly set clear performance objectives, including: (Anon, 1997)

• Identifying the specific tasks and behaviours as objectives to be accomplished during a performance cycle
• Establishing how to measure the objectives
• Prioritising work by identifying those results most crucial and those that can be deferred
• Analysing how objectives support group work goals.

Managers should include other areas as part of the overall assessment process.

Supervisors should define tasks as much as possible in terms of output. (Johnson, 1997) Having measurable results and if possible” milestones built into the job makes remote supervising much easier. Supervisors of teleworkers must focus on the employee’s expected work product. Frequent communication between the supervisor and the teleworker is important to ensure that tasks and performance expectations are clearly defined. Electronic a voice-mail access for the teleworker facilitates daily contact with the supervisor and other personnel. Fay also advises that accessibility is an important issue. Teleworkers should be easy to reach within a certain amount of time. On the other hand, supervisors should accept that employees, whether teleworking or on-site, may not always be readily accessible. However, all organisational policies regarding attendance and hours worked should also apply to teleworking work hours. This is important for the purpose of defining the teleworker’s job period. Unless a different work schedule is designated, teleworker’s hours are assumed to be, say from 08:00 - 17:00, Monday to Friday, with a one-hour meal break that is considered off-duty” time. Any changes of work hours, or work location, should be reviewed and approved by the supervisor in advance. (Yesil.1997)

The managers and workers have to gain some new technologies and skills:

• Merchandising skills

Interactive home shopping will require an approach to merchandising unlike any used by current channels, including traditional retailing, catalogue retailing, and cable TV shopping, if merchants are to take full advantage of what interactive multimedia technologies offer. In particular, merchants will need to be adept at picking the merchandise items with the best potential. However, the real learning on what sells and what does not will have to be acquired through practical experience. Other relevant skills include continuously matching merchandise offerings to consumer needs, setting and maintaining attractive pricing, and capturing back-end-merchandising opportunities. For example, through follow-up catalogue sales to customers who have made a purchase through an interactive service. (Anon, 1997)

• Programming skills

Major advances in program development will have to be made if interactive home shopping is to reach its full potential. In particular, programming will need to be required to produce such programming are likely to include creating sufficient merchandise-selling opportunities and combining the best qualities of print advertising with the excitement and urgency of televised entertainment. For many merchants, this will mean entering alliances as they venture far beyond their traditional skill base. (Anon, 1998b)

• Customer service capability

Consumers may demand a higher level of service in order to overcome whatever reservations they may at first have about using an electronic shopping service. What matters to them will include real-time, accurate product information, order tracking, problem resolution, and hassle-free product returns. (Anon, 1999b)

• Marketing skills

Retailing in general is evolving to a point where relationship marketing is the technology offers tremendous opportunities to increase sales productivity by targeting experience. Key elements of these capabilities include promotions management, direct marketing skills, and database marketing skills. (Anon 1997)

• Fulfilment capability

Merchants will need to receive and fulfil their customers’ orders in an accurate, cost-effective, and timely fashion in order to retain their loyalty. This can make all the difference between a tolerable interactive shopping value proposition and a winning one. Capabilities likely to be required here include integrated order taking, accurate demand forecasting, dynamic inventory management, on-line inventory visibility, and fast, accurate order fulfilment. (Anon, 1999b)

• Alliance management skills

Few merchants will rely on a skill-building program to develop all the necessary capabilities in-house. Such a program would be prohibitively expensive and slow. Therefore, alliances with other skilled channel participants, such as programmers, advertising and marketing agencies, and electronic networks will almost certainly be required. (Anon, 1997)

4.  IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY

The key social impacts from the results of Teleshopping will be the introduction of better shopping services. Access to such services will allow for better scheduling of consumer time authorising the ability to shop at times convenient to the shopper” rather than being confined to those of the shop. (Markham, 1998)

The economic impact of the work will include the elimination of a small mountain of paper catalogues, costly in their production, and wasteful in their use of natural resources. (Kare-Sliver, 1998)

An attendant economic advantage will be the flexibility and rapid response then offered to the service provider, to rapid change product offering, reducing the marketing changes to that of a video production enterprise rather than a publication enterprise.

4.1 Environmental Impacts of Teleshopping

Today, many environmental impacts were produced by our daily activities. These impacts have tremendous social and economic costs. Teleshopping offers some hope for reducing our impacts on the planet and on each other. This section examines some of the way Teleshopping may facilitate such reductions. (Anon, 1997)

Reduction of Automobile Use and Non-renewable Resource Consumption by reducing commute trips and distances, telecommuting can reduce non-renewable resource consumption. Even as low-and zero-emission cars become more common, fossil fuels will power the vast majority of transportation for the foreseeable future. Large oil corporations simply have too much invested in their infrastructure to allow a rapid switch to solar powered electric transportation. By reducing trip distances and frequencies, overall fuel use by tele-commuters will be reduced. In addition, those teleshoppers will save themselves and society the related costs of operating motor vehicles. (Vanderwielen, 1998)

However, as Teleshopping reduces automobile trips, and as regulations increase the cost of automobile ownership and use, it is likely that we will see some decrease in automobile ownership rates for households that teleshop. Though causality is difficult to ascertain, it is likely the relationship is at least partially driven by increases in distances between points in homogeneous residential and commercial zones as city size increases. Thus, if Teleshopping contributes to a multi-nucleated urban arrangement, where distances between homes, employment centres, shops, and services are shortened to the walkable scale, fuel use and car ownership rates may decrease (Anon, 1998b). Considering the high costs of simply owning a car, outside of operation and maintenance costs, reducing car ownership can be financially rewarding for former car owners. For telecommuters working at home, the costs of equipping and operating a home office, if not borne by their employer, may offset some of the savings gained by driving less. Reductions in automobile use and ownership could cause financial hardships for some sectors of the economy. Revenue and taxes generated by the sales, servicing, and operation of motor vehicles provide many people with their livelihoods and many government agencies with portions of their operating budgets. There are no reliable predictions of future numbers of telecommuters, but it seems reasonable to predict that it will be a long time before telecommuting becomes widespread enough to affect incidental benefits of motor vehicle use. (Anon, 1998b)

4.2 Reduction of Demand for shopping Space

Widespread Teleshopping within a company reduces the office space needed to support employees. Because most teleshoppers spend part of their week in the office or the store and the other part at home, low levels of teleworking will not significantly reduce business needs for office space. However, when teleworking becomes full-time or nearly full-time, when employees share office space on the days they do drive to work, and when a large proportion of employees’ telework, the square-footage of office needed per employee drops dramatically. (Markham, 1998)

Besides the obvious financial costs to businesses of securing, operating, and maintaining offices, there are numerous environmental costs, usually borne by consumers and society. HVAC heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning equipment consumes large amounts of electricity and natural gas while exhausting waste heal to the atmosphere. This is especially true when offices are relatively low-density one and two story structures built on the urban and suburban fringe. Such paved areas are impervious to water; thus storm and snowmelt run-off from developed sites is far greater than from undeveloped sites. Rapid run-off taxes storm sewer systems, and may require expensive repairs and upgrades to the sewers that are often paid for the community at large. (Anon, 1999b)

4.3 Increase in discretionary time

Teleshopping offers the possibility of increasing discretionary time by eliminating travel time for traditional shopping trips, and by speeding routine purchases. Intelligent agents, or pieces of software that search computer networks, will reduce our need to comparison shop to obtain the best price. Using intelligent agents to automate routine shopping for groceries and staple goods may give households more time for other activities. (Kare-Silver, 1998)

Increases in leisure activities may have far-reaching social and environmental effects. Previously mentioned reductions in activity space, combined with increases in pedestrian and bicycle travel may make neighbourhood attractions more popular. Family ties may regain importance and discretionary time will be spent at home. Either way, increases in discretionary time will likely boost the economy as spending on leisure activities increases (Markham, 1998). If families and individuals use their new free time to go for drives in the country, we may see a reverse congestion problem, where roads are clear during the week and crowded on the weekends. Overall, the effects of discretionary time changes are very difficult to predict. Such changes may not produce any noticeable changes in our society or environment for a very long time.

5.  CONCLUSION

A revolution in the shopping environment is about to take place. But it won’t affect all consumers and impact all retailers immediately. And it will not replace the traditional shopping completely, because there are still many traditional social shoppers. Such as women, to go window-shopping is one of their natural instincts. It is impossible for them to do shopping at home always. What they enjoyed most are the social atmospheres of the malls. They like to have a chat with the sales people, they like to try the clothes on and then do some compare. This is what Teleshopping can not satisfy them.

However, the shopping scene is changing, retailers will need to develop. Standing still carries a high risk of being disintermediated, cut out of the supply chain as Teleshopping grows. As they move into the next century retailers will have a range of options. At one extreme they could transfer their business to become a full electronic home-delivery operation gradually moving out of their physical retail estate. And an alternative they could look to revitalise their physical presence and evolve the store proposition to meet some of the changing consumer demands.

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