AMAZON TECH Amazon.

com utilizes technology innovation to differentiate itself on online customer

e !erience. "nnovations such as !ersonalized recommendations# one$clic% ordering# and search inside the &oo% are all Amazon.com innovations.

These innovations com!rise the virtual store e !erience for the Amazon.com customer. 'hile ac%no(ledging Amazon.com)s front$end innovations# *eff +ezos recently noted that ,-. of innovation has &een to su!!ort &ac%$end su!!ly chain integration and e ecution /0ir%!atric%# 1--23. Amazon.com has highly customized soft(are a!!lications that su!!ort their su!!ly chain &usiness model. 4or e am!le# the integration of the !artners in Amazon.com)s multi$tier su!!ly chain re5uires advanced information technology ca!a&ilities. 4or e am!le#
Amazon.com is lin%ed into "ngram)s systems to see "ngram inventory levels (hen deciding (hether to use "ngram to dro! shi! an order to a customer /6igital27ight# 1---3. The a&ility to dis!lay !roducts on the virtual storefront# source

them to different su!!ly chain !artners# and manage the delivery of those orders (hile !roviding customer visi&ility illustrates Amazon.com)s su!!ly chain technology e !ertise. "n addition to using technology to su!!ort su!!lier colla&oration and order sourcing# Amazon.com utilizes its core technology e !ertise to im!rove su!!ly chain e ecution.

E ecution involves the internal distri&ution center !rocesses that have &een highlighted in this !a!er as (ell as the trans!ortation initiatives. 8ogelstein /1--93 notes that Amazon.com)s

!ro!rietary (arehouse management system /'M73 has as many lines of code as their (e&site does. The advanced la&or management# load &alancing# !rocess alternatives# and o!timization routines &uilt into their 'M7 ena&le the efficient !rocesses for internal 6C !rocessing that have &een discussed in this !a!er. Amazon.com drives com!etitive advantage &y utilizing !ro!rietary information technology s!ecifically designed to su!!ort their &usiness model. An indication of Amazon.com)s confidence in its technology is the &undling of its e$ commerce front$end and &ac%$end to develo! the Merchant.com model. Additionally# Amazon.com evaluates technology to drive &usiness value. 4or e am!le# COO *eff 'il%e noted that :4"6 can !rovide value (here inventory accuracy is !oor# shrin%age rates are high# or more real$time information is needed /+acheldor# 1--23. 6ue to their e isting

"T ca!a&ilities# Amazon.com does not have issues in these areas# and thus they are not an early ado!ter of :4"6. These e am!les sho( ho( Amazon.com leverages its technology e !ertise to su!!ort su!!ly chain innovation on &oth the customer and su!!lier sides of the su!!ly chain. WALMART TECH 'al$Mart leverages technology to hel! su!!ort their su!!ly chain and &usiness strategy of E6;<. 'al$Mart utilizes an in$house develo!ed su!!ly chain visi&ility tool called :etail
;in% to facilitate communication and colla&oration (ith su!!ly chain !artners. According to

Arnold and 4ernie /1---3# 'al$Mart invested a!!ro imately =2 &illion in develo!ing this
!rogram. The three ma>or functions of :etail ;in% are to store data# to share data (ith vendors# and to aid in shi!ment routing assignments. 7u!!liers are given large amounts of ra( data concerning their !roduct sales in 'al$Mart 7tores. :etail ;in% !rovides data such as !oint of sale data# average !rice#

current inventory &y store# and current on order 5uantity. The information can &e vie(ed &y day# &y (ee%# &y store# or in any other
com&ination# &y day# &y 6iscount 7tore# and &y 70?. The information can &e do(nloaded into the vendor)s data managing system and mani!ulated and

analyzed in any (ay that (ould aid the vendor in managing its o(n !roducts. The main reason (hy 'al$Mart !rovides such detailed amounts of data to its vendors is &ecause they &elieve that (ith this data# vendors can ma%e their su!!ly chain more efficient# (hich (ill in turn im!rove their service to 'al$Mart (hile lo(ering 'al$Mart)s costs. 4rom 'al$ Mart)s !ers!ective# service can &e im!roved &y vendor antici!ation of 'al$Mart order 5uantities through the e !loitation of data in :etail ;in%. :etail ;in% ma%es colla&orative efforts such as vendor$managed inventory and co$managed inventory are !ossi&le# (hich are further discussed
later in the cha!ter.

'al$Mart uses a system called "nforem to automate their re!lenishment !rocess for their
retail stores. "nforem is a system originally develo!ed &y "+M that has &een heavily modified &y 'al$Mart to suit its s!ecific &usiness !rocesses. According to a user of "nforem in the retail industry# there are t(o

im!ortant varia&les that are ta%en into consideration (hen ma%ing

inventory decisions. The t(o varia&les are the !oint of sale data as (ell as the amount of inventory on hand. Ta%ing these t(o factors along (ith trends and demand and su!!ly varia&ility# "nforem ma%es decisions on (hen to order and ho( much inventory to order /@4lo($ through 6C@# 1995). According to industry

e !erts that have used 'al$Mart)s version of "nforem# 70? shelf s!ace#

economic order 5uantity# and 70? !ac% size are other factors ta%en into consideration (hen ma%ing re!lenishment decisions. An order 5uantity for each stoc% %ee!ing unit /70?3 in each 6iscount 7tore is automatically determined &y "nforem. "nforem ma%es order 5uantity recommendations multi!le times a (ee%. Managers (ithin the store have the a&ility to override the order 5uantity# &ut it is not ty!ically done. Overall# "nforem allo(s the re!lenishment !rocess to &e more accurate (ith less human

intervention.
"nforem and :etail ;in% !rovide e am!les of ho( 'al$Mart utilizes "T a!!lications to hel! su!!ort their &usiness !ractices. Ho(ever# it is 'al$

Mart)s early ado!tion and e tensive use of &arcode technology that ena&les 'al$Mart)s flo($through su!!ly chain !rocesses. The "T a!!lications include &usiness rules to facilitate communication and !rovide direction to su!!ly chain !artners. +arcode technology ensures real$time# accurate data ca!ture and !roduct visi&ility throughout 'al$ Mart)s su!!ly chain as !roduct flo(s from vendors through distri&ution
centers# center!oints# and onto retail stores. 'al$Mart is currently driving the

ado!tion of :4"6 technology through su!!lier mandates and o!erational !rocess redesign. :4"6 !romises to &e the ne t generation of &arcode technology to !rovide automated data ca!ture to further streamline 'al$Mart)s !rocesses and vendor com!liance initiatives. These e am!les illustrate 'al$Mart)s use of technology to gather# !rocess# and analyze information to su!!ort efficient su!!ly chain !rocesses and vendor colla&oration to hel! %ee! su!!ly chain costs lo( to su!!ort their E6;< strategy.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/67576194/104/Amazon-com-and-Technolog

Walmart has 3 business policy objectives: a. Respect for the individual b. Service to customers c. Striving for excellence Business strategies which promote efficiency and uality with competitive price refers to: the value chain. ! "igh technology!based advertising system with easy access anywhere and at any time: for consumers. ! #he uality of the products $ma%on and Walmart: each offer products with a broader service. ! &rice competitiveness:

$ma%on and Walmart provide low prices with uality service and product uality in order to attract consumer interest in larger and larger. Budgeting: financially Walmart and $ma%on have strong budgeting for operations and mar'eting of products that facilitate in ma'ing any policy for product mar'eting( innovation( and motivation. )oyalty: loyalty to the executives and employees to strengthen the company. as well as the loyalty of consumers. *very $ma%on and Walmart customer is a valuable asset to the company+s progress. http://z!naimar.blogspot.com/"011/09/location-based-mar#eting-and.html$m%1 ( &'&T()*'(and(T+,-(.actors(that(contrib!ted(to( (/A0&A*T ( ((1!ccess: ( (
A3 7trategy of managing cost B +udgeting !ayroll cost 7aving on &usiness travel cost "nvesting in technologyB energy system# ne( e5ui!!ed store# and :4"6 Eliminating unnecessary costs 13 7trategy of managing gro(thB ;ocation Ac5uisition 93 7trategy of managing !eo!le resourcesB Motivating em!loyee "nternal !romotion E ternal recruitment All in all# &y im!lementing these three im!ortant strategies successfully# 'al$ Mart has &ecome from a single store to the &iggest retailer in the ?7 and to the &iggest com!any in the (orld. The Cost Management 7trategy of 'al$Mart (ills create an o!erational model (ith the lo(est cost# (hich (ill increase the margin of !rofit on the financial statements. The Cro(th Management 7trategy had dragged 'al$Mart into the right direction of investment and e !anded radically around the distri&ution center. The <eo!le Management 7trategy ins!ires all associates to (or% more efficiency and creates a great (or%!lace environment (hich full of self$ im!rovement# com!etition# and res!ects. an o!!ortunity for !eo!le to &uild$u! e !erience from the lo($ran% !osition to the high$ran% !osition. strong management in these three strategies had transformed 'al$Mart highest num&er of em!loyees (orld(ide and !roviding &enefits to millions of

!eo!le around the (orld. 'almart a&le to do this through transferring unnecessary cost into lo($cost !roducts.

( &'&T()*'(and(T+,-(.actors(that(contrib!ted(to( (A&A2)3 ( ((1!ccess: ( (

A3 Convenience and ease of useB ;arge selectionB !u&lisher relations# (holesale relations# unlimited virtual shelf s!ace 13 High <erformance 7erviceB 'e&site is fast# relia&le# and easy to use 7hi!!ing is !rom!t Customer is %e!t informed "nnovative technology 93 +rand share of mindDNet(or%ingB 7hort# clever nameD?:;Dtag line :eferral !rogram Co$&randing# cross !romotion and high advertising

44(,omm!nit : 5osting(c!stomer(re6iews(with(a!thor(re6iews ,!stomer(gi.ts:(boo#mar#s7(notepads7(c!ps7(etc. 5romotion(where(c!stomers(collaborate(with(.amo!s(a!thors. 54(5ersonalization/0arge(,!stomer(8atabase: +9tensi6e(c!stomer(pro.iles *ecommendations )ther(readers(who(bo!ght(this(title(A01)(:);'-T :o!ght(this(a!thor$(5eople(A01)(:);'-T 64(Tr!st: '!arantees *et!rn(5olic 'reat(c!stomer(ser6ice-(s!perioer(ser6ice(reps7(eas (responsi6e(search(engine7(no(hassle( ret!rn(polic 7(email(con.irmation 74(+9tended(1er6ice +9tensi6e(s!b<ect(inde9 1earch Abilit (to(order(be.ore(p!blication(or(hard(cop (release. )!t(o.(print(search =4(,ost(1tr!ct!re: 0ow(price 0ow(o6erhead-(less(emplo ees7(less(real(estate7(low(in6entor 94(0ogistics

>ast7(reliable7(ine9pensi6e(shipping )riginall (no(in6entor (b (!sing(?ngram http://www.slideshare.net/linda@perangin/amazon-6s-walmart