I will also be talking about several issues that answer my research question, mainly talking about the social perception of things. As that is my main area of interest. I will cover such issues as credit/ debit, on-line shopping, bar code scanners, customer shopping trends, and many more issues that are related to IT technology and retailing and social factors.
2.1 Introduction
Aim of this project is to construct an individual report, relating IT impacts to customers and then relating it to their behavior and how technology has affected their behavior, looking mainly at the negative aspects of their life. Having the latest technology innovations has improved the image of many large and small organizations and in some aspects the living standards of some people too.
After the construction of this report, I expect the readers to obtain a clear view of how IT impacts are linked to customer shopping and how that affects their social behavior as well.
3.0 The ICT industry
The ICT industry has grown very fast, over the years, these days everything is being done on the commuters, and not manually anymore. The ICT industry is a permanent state of evolution; it’s always continuously changing. The product cycles seems to be getting shorter and shorter. Customers are demanding faster response times for delivery and repairs, and there is a consistent requirement for a reduction in stock levels and inventory costs.
3.1 The Growth Of ICT In The Retailing Industry Over The Years
An explanation of how Technology has changed in retailing (shopping trends) and the social aspects of people’s life.
- Technology has invented newer things that you wouldn’t have found 30 years ago.
- Technology has improved our methods of interacting with one another, e.g. like mobile phones, internet, portable computers, video conferencing etc.
- Inventions to latest technology such as on-line shopping and credits cards means that the information about the customers isn’t secure and their may be a problem, where others may hack their personal information. That’s where the data protection act comes into practice.
- Technology has changed our everyday life, such as health care, education, social life, our working environment, and leisure activities.
- Technology helps us to do things at a faster pace, whereas as before we wouldn’t be able to do things and would have to do them mainly, e.g. computers, help us to work better and faster.
3.2 Customer Shopping Habits/Trends
London’s west end is a key location in national and global cultures of retailing, in particular fashion. Its retailing outlets have formed a focus for generations of fashions producers and consumers, influencing the ways in which manufacturers around the world display and promote goods and individual construct their social identities. Over the years shopping trends have changed drastically, from manufacturing sector to retailing services.
Before there would have been human labour used and manpower in manufacturing sectors, that’s why people wouldn’t have required retailing services, but now the increase and demand has driven the retailing industries to expand nation-wide and world-wide, e.g. due to people shopping on-line customers shopping habits have changed from going into shops from actually shopping on the web.
This affects the buying trends of customers as well, when a customer sees that when they have purchased items over the web and the quality of the goods are good and last long, this will help them to buy more, and if the price is cheaper compared to buying from the actual shop then customer will want to buy more. So if the price is low then there is more demand for the items, and this affects the customers shopping behaviour, as they will be buying more.
Looking at the fashion aspect of retailing, fashion changes every year and so does the buyers needs change with it as well, this changes their social behaviour in many aspects and changes their shopping patterns. Therefore more people are using the retailing sector, which means that they are using the latest technology too, such as chip and pin, and bar-code scanner.
4.0 How Has Technology Changed and Affected Shopping Trends?
4.1 ICT Innovations
There are many IT innovations that have changed everything around us, the way we live, the way we shop and the way we associate with each other. Below are the some of the main innovations, which have been outlined and stated in depth.
4.2 Types Of Cards
From cash to cards; the trends for payments methods have changed, people prefer to pay by credit cards or store credits cards, to shop for good over the internet, or purchase goods over the phone, where cash wouldn’t be an appropriate method to pay for goods. However couple of years ago this facility wasn’t offered to or available for customers.
4.3 Credit/Debit Cards
Most retailing outlets, have introduced the chip and pin, whereas couple of years ago they wouldn’t have that. Chip and pin is a new, secure way to pay with a credit or debit card or charge card, due to ICT advancements and latest technology you will simply tap in your four digit pin number rather having to sign a receipt. For example Safeway (food retailing) was the first UK store to introduce chip and PIN technology
The chip is a microchip on your debit/credit card, which stores tour card sate more securely than then a magnetic stripe, which is much harder to copy the data from.
The PIN (Personal Identification Number) is a four-digit number you tap in to verifiability of a transactions made by customers.
4.4 Bar Code Scanners
Trends have changed; most retailers now use bar-coding scanners. Computers can not read bar codes. For a computer to make use of the information contained in the bar code, the bar code data must be captured and decoded into a data format that the computer can process. The device that reads or captures the bar code information and sends it to the decoder is known as the bar code reader, generally called bar code scanner.
Due to recent technology there many various types of bar code scanners that have been implemented in many retailing outlets, such as Pen Type Readers or Bar Code wands, Laser Barcode Scanners, CCD Barcode Scanners, Camera Based Barcode Readers.
4.5 Touch Screen Tills
Touch screen till are a modern way to till in data, this again is using ICT to help customers to pay for their goods, after they have finished shopping. Is just a matter of touching the button and it does the whole calculation summary automatically for the goods that the customer has purchased.
4.6 Loyalty Cards/Store Cards
Trends have changed over the years due to the invention of store cards being introduced, before if a customer purchased anything in a store, they wouldn’t get any discounts or any benefits of shopping from that particular store. These cards normally work according to the shopping habits of each customer, for example if a customer buys goods worth a lot of money they will receive more points on their store card.
Whereas if a customer purchases less goods they will receive less points. Also companies have invented different types of cards for different customers, again this looks at the shopping patterns of customers, there are cards which give customers points every time they purchase an item, and then they can buy items using those points. Then on the other hand there are store cards that offer you the same facilities as credit cards, where you can buy now and shop later.
4.7 On-Line Shopping
On-line shopping facilities available now- trends have changed from customers actually buying goods in store, from shopping on the internet; this gives them the flexibility to shop anytime and anywhere, whereas before they would have to go out and travel to do their shopping and wouldn’t have the flexibility or the facility to shop at their own convenience and at home.
On-line shopping has potential advantages to customers, as it’s a very popular method of shopping these days. Some of the main benefits have been outlined below:
- Decrease in price: items and goods are cheaper on the internet, this due to the reason that warehouse and staff costs are lower, and also because on-line shops or retailing outlets want to attract and retain more customers.
- Customer convenience: shopping on the internet is an easier method of shopping. It can be done at home in your own convenient time and also it’s is much faster.
- Faster and quicker delivery: most companies’ websites deliver within a few days, e.g. Amazon shopping catalogue, which have a next day delivery process.
4.8 Sales Figures
Here, shopping refers to actually making purchases over the Web.
A high percentage of users (46.4%) have never used the Web for online shopping, but 33.5% have used it a few times. An even higher percentage of users in Europe have never used the Web for shopping (58.8%).
Respondents in the 19-25 age range are least likely to have used the Web for shopping at least once (53.0% never have), compared to approximately 41% who never have in the other age categories.
5.0 How has technology changed and affected the social behaviour of customers?
Below are the main factors that have affected the society and the social behaviour of customers such a major way.
5.1 On-Line Shopping
The social behavior of customers have changes a lot of the years, due to all the recent IT innovations, it has affected the life’s of many people in certain ways. On-line is one of the ICT innovations that has affected our life’s drastically, this due to the fact that people are relying too much on on-line shopping and aren’t stepping outside the house to do their shopping.
This affect that it has on people is very bad as, as its making interact with others less, more anti-social behavior is being shown. And there health is being affected by it as well, where people used to walk to go out to do their daily shopping, which was a god source of exercising and maintaining their health, now they are sitting at home and using the internet to do their shopping.
Overall interact shopping has reduced the chance of communication form individual to individual, it has made the society become to reliant on it. And therefore people have an anti-social behavior towards life and people, due to the fact they are always home and not going out, even it’s a five minutes work to the shop they still won’t go out.
Social implications on online shopping
Another factor to consider is that are social implications because of on-line shopping. This is because the data that is stored about customers is very confidential, and many retailers have taken drastic steps to make that customer data is secure. To ensure that retailers have kept the data secure, they have brought in the Data Protection Act 1998.
Implicit understanding of the Data Protection Act 1998
The Data Protection Act of 1998 contains eight Data Protection Principles:
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data shall be processed fairly and lawfully.
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data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.
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data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
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data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
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data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
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data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.
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Appropriate technical and organizational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, data.
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data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of data.
Act was obtained from source
5.2 Credit/Debit Cards
Credit cards/debit cards and loyalty cards are another method which has affected the social behaviour of customer or shoppers. This is because more and more customers s seem to be making payments by phone for the goods they have purchased, so for example if someone orders a pizza they will make a payment on the on the phone via card, this is making them lazy and to reliant on the phone.
Again this is making them anti-social staying at home and not interacting with others, not going out and understanding what going on with the society.
Even in stores when people shop or over the internet, they intend to use cards these days, just because they find it a hassle to go to the cash point and withdraw. Again this is making them lazy. But however what people don’t really understand is that the more they are shopping with credit/ debit card and less with cash, the more the credit card frauds risk are increasing, that’s why most retailer are introducing pin and chip which is reducing fraud.
The graph bellow shows that credit card fraud in the U.K. is growing rapidly and currently costs the industry over £400 million a year - equivalent to £4 for every credit and debit card issued in the country. Over the next two years, fraud levels are expected to rise to over £800 million.
5.3 Environmental And Transportation Issues
Another aspect in which technology is being used in retailing is via transport, e.g. cars and tracks being used to distribute retail goods to companies or external entities, this is also good for individuals as well who wish to go where ever they want, without this they wouldn’t be able to do get anywhere and carry out their day to days tasks if they are far. For example going to work or picking up their children from school.
But however there is a down side to having transport inventions, because it has a social affect on people, even for the smallest things they are using cars, if someone wanted to go to the local newsagents, which is a 5minutes walk they will use a car. Again this is bad for their health as they aren’t walking or exercising. Also using the car all the times means that cars are producing more car exhaust pollution, which isn’t good for the environment or people.
Also road traffic is a major cause of both air pollution and noise. All motor vehicles emit fumes which reduce local air quality, add to low level ozone and can cause health problems.
Diesel exhaust is being linked to asthma and causes most of the black soot which discolours buildings. All exhaust fumes contribute to global warming and cause .
Last two paragraphs taken from the sources
6.0 Conclusion
Overall, the technology has changed the modern society in many different ways, as people tend to advance along with the technology. These changes have led to people being more communicative to each other and work together in a way that they choose to. They have more control over the things they do. Technology brings people closer everyday. Since new technology comes out quickly people are forced to buy them even if they don’t need these goods. The marketing power of these new technology products is immense.
Most of the work these days is done from home and things like the Internet shopping, Online banking, Mobile Phones, Portable computers, and Online chat has helped people to stay in touch and brings them closer and enables them to keep in touch with their friends and families.
It also makes our life more complicated and we have access to a great deal of information than before. The retail industry has taken advantage of these new technologies and using it to its full potential. The current advancement in these technologies is driving the people to buy new things often and make them feel happy about it.
The products of technology are available to almost everyone in society. Cars influence the ways communities are developing.
It’s the modern day social backbone of communities without it some remote communities wont exist
Cars and trucks are essential for transport of the retail goods and give the people the freedom to go anywhere they want
7.0 Bibliography
All the data used in this report was obtained from the following sources;
www.pinpad.co.uk/ industry/background.html
www.tnt.com/country/en_generic/ services/industry/ictindustry..html
http://www.watchfire.com/legislation/dpa.aspx
