Competitors and Technology
Two of the major competitors in the retail industry are Kohl's and Macy's. Both
competitors are large brick-and-mortar and e-commerce giants within the retail industry. These
companies utilize Big Data and Knowledge management and cloud computing to gain a
competitive edge within the market. Due to the popularity and demand of products offered, it is
important for each of these companies to improve their business process to provide a better
customer experience and meet their increasing demands. In addition, the ability to improve their
supply chain visibility enhances the efficiency of getting products to the customer. While also
maintaining historical records to use in cost-effective improvements using the integration of IT
systems and analysis to develop new products and expand its market and customer base.
Technology One: Big Data and Knowledge Management
Kohl's is a company in which you can see how the integration of big data and knowledge
management has helped improve its marketing efforts through greater personalization and
planning to move toward a more individualization within its stores. With the vast amount of data
being collected at each store and online, it is allowing the business to provide enhancements and
customer focused products in real time. This is an added value to their customer base and is
attractive to others. This is an enhancement that no other competitor is utilizing to improve their
customer experience and interactions. One of the best advantages to shopping online is to get
exactly what you want in an instant. For example, "Kohl's efforts in personalizing its locations'
merchandise to match the interests of the people within communities where its stores operate
should help move the company in the right direction. On a more granular level, the move
towards providing personalized messages and promotions through its marketing communications
both in store and online should provide a strong synergy with its effort towards more
personalized merchandising options at each store. Taking plans into consideration with the fact
that consumers still enjoy being able to see and engage with products before they purchase them
these actions might just give the brick and mortar retailer a "leg up" against some of their online
competitors (marshall-johnstonmm.com/2014)."
Technology 2: Cloud Computing
Macy's is another competitor in the retail industry who utilizes cloud computing to enhance its
business processes. Macy uses a private cloud platform that is associated to their online website.
This platform sits behind the store firewalls and processes large data sets in a distributed
computing environment. The business was able to capture 2 years of data, which ranges from 20
terabytes to 30 terabytes. Macy's.com uses the private cloud to digitalize shopping strategies
(Amato-mccoy 2012). For example, the retailer, which features more than 60,000 products
online and leverages multiple digital channels to share product information cross-channel, has
armed itself with a set of internal cloud-based, high-performance analytics tools designed to
improve customer segmentation, market-basket analysis and real-time personalization cross-
channel, based on a broader scope of product attributes
Technology Solution: Cloud Computing
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