Introduction
Each and every organization has to understand its PESTLE factors that exist in its business environment so as to be able to determine how best it can use these factors to expand and increase its production. The mastery of how best these factors can be analyzed and implicated in the organization enables the organization to exist and compete in the environment if the factors can be easily manipulated. This paper is with modest comprehensively analyzing how Wal-Mart company, headquarter in the USA with branches all over the world is impacted with the new incoming technological advancements. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of how best the company has been able to incorporate this technology in its numerous sectors and stores that has enabled it to be the best performing high-tech gain in the retail industry.
Different businesses are affected by different factors
Different businesses are affected by different factors that are portrayed in the PESTLE factors analysis. Currently, technology has been one of the factors that have been the greatest determinants of the organization success or failure given the fact that all other factors as outlined by the PESTLE factor analysis are not easy to manipulate and change as per the organization demands (Aithal, 2016.). With the ability to appropriately embrace the new technological advancements, companies fail to fight technological disruptions and innovators dilemma that has been one of the factors facilitating poor performance and failure of most organizations to their existence in the market. Wal-Mart is one of the best performing organizations headquarter in the United States of America that has been impacted positively by its ability to utilize the new technological advancements enabling to it possesses one of the largest market shares across the globe, more expansions and to become one of the largest employers in the world having employed approximately 1.5 million employees (Ansah, Sorooshian, Mustafa and Duvvuru, 2016).
Embracing and pioneering various technologies
Being an important member of the retail industry, Wal-Mart has had to incorporate various new technologies that its competitors have failed to paste due to their nature and as well as the capital required for their acquisition (Wood, 2017). Majorly Wal-Mart has a unique operation strategy whereby most of its innovations and inventions with regards to the new technology are based on its executive team unlike most companies that delegate this role to the employees. Over the last two year, Wal-Mart has been embracing and pioneering in adoption and implementation of various technologies as a result of acquisition Jet.com and the move it undertook of adding its founder, Marc Lore, to its executive team which it facilitated the establishment of a number of e-commerce buys. There are numerous technologies advancements that Walmart has had to pioneer that later have had to be a backbone of its efficiency, decreased turnover rates as well as reduced operational costs that have enabled it to be one of the leading retail leaders and employer across the globe (Upadhyayula et al, 2018).
Mobile upgrades
Mobile upgrades have been one of the most innovative features that have been greatest boosters of applied and adopted by Wal-Mart sales due to an increased customer base and customer satisfaction. It established waves when it initially launched and abandoned its mobile order and pay initiative known as the Scan& Go. Customers (Townsend et al, 2018). This was attributed by the fact that the initiative was less helpful and was not achieving the desired objectives with which it was established for. This led to more upgrades such as integrated store maps which are located in 165 locations. While most of the stores around the United States of America are identical and specifically supercenters, its unique layers may challenge customers on the acquisition of products hence the integration apps help in easy identification and location of the products. This newly launched up map feature has recorded high numbers of viewers emanating from shoppers from its stores (Toma, 2016). This is an indication that as a company more emphasis is laid on the improvement of customer satisfaction which in turn leads to increased profits and expansion of the company.
List feature
Another technology that has had to impact greatly on the performance and provided an increased customer base is its list feature. In most occasions, shoppers in most companies tend to make paper lists before getting to the stores to have their products. Wal-Mart has invented a new list feature app that enables users to key in items that they wish to buy in natural language (Srivastava, Agarwal, Srivastava and Pandey, 2016). Using this app, a limited number of brands as well as items are pushed towards the customers enabling them to choose the best products amongst their other substitutes available in the store. Since the lists are unified into new maps of the stores, each and every item is located and identified precisely until to a foot wide section on the specific shelf it is located. This is an important innovation for the company as the company is subjected to reduce operational costs that were incurred in on employment of more workers to perform these roles aiding in the location of products (Rogers, 2018).
Managing returns and artificial intelligence
Another crucial area that is very integral in determining the success or failure of a company are how best the company is able to access and manage its returns. As for Walmart, the retail store is successfully integrating the shopper's data as far as purchasing is concerned so as to enable the items being acquired online be accessed by the customer as well as at its store and then be scanned to effectively utilize the feature of digital transactions (Ravi, 2015). With this technology, shoppers are able to initiate their returns using the app, proper selection of an item from that history as well as barcode creation on their mobile device. Upon reaching the store customers get to the designated areas situated at the customer service center where they present the code to be scanned and finally drop off the returns. They are then assured that the return is received by the company (Rastogi, N.I.T.A.N.K. and Trivedi, 2016). With this technology, it is clear the amounts of returns that the company had been initially losing due to systematic defaults and leakages wills are reduced hence efficiency in the entire systems of revenues location and generation.
Incorporation of artificial intelligence
In addition to that great efforts by the company have been channeled towards the innovation and inventions of artificial intelligence in form of the robots that have been integral in replacing some of the roles that were handled by the human labor force. Restocking of shelves has been one of the leading costs that most retailing companies incurring with most expenditure directed to payment of the human labor (Peters, Till, and Meara, 2017). Currently, the company is using robots in shelve restocking, location and misplacement of products among the shelves, inventory tracking that saves customer's time in the location of products as well other roles. For instance currently, the roving robot innovated from Bossa Nova Robotics makes different turns and rounds within the entire store in the location of information, ensuring that prices are up to their expected level, identification of shelf that lack commodities and ensuring that all the records recording different types of commodities level to the company are up to their expected level (Oh el al, 2017). With these robotic inventions, the company has recorded the highest level of efficiency within the company making customers to be satisfied and served within the shortest period of time while at Walmart or when using is platforms.
Automated backroom process
Furthermore, Walmart has automated the process in the backroom of truck unloading as well as sorting inventory reducing the number of associates that take part in this (Freeman, 2016). Commonly known as the "Fast Unloader", this automation has an ability to move a full trailer of goods using a conveyer belt as well as sorting out the items and placing them on carts to be replenished in the shortest time possible for the company. This system has been implemented in 30 stores available in the United State of America (Inman, and Nikolova, 2017). This implies that the human labor costs that are always associated with unloading and offloading of products are greatly reduced as well as enabling appropriate utilizing time that would have been wasted on offloading, sorting out and placement on carts.
Improving the work experience for associates
Currently, Walmart has channeled its efforts on the improvement of the work experienced for its associates. With the incoming new technology, the company demands its employees to be better equipped with skills and experience (Keilty, 2018). The high tech giant adopted a new technology tool that is necessary in assisting its members in its stores. Its new mobile devices are well established with information from Bossa Nova which is responsible for transmitting a to-do list to its specific employees that are based on its findings. To enable this be effective the robot is able to take photos, locate as well as point out any issues as well identification of locations and places to move those particularly identified commodities. In addition to that, the company's an adopted a scheduling app that provides the employees in remote areas access their full established schedules which are complete with swap abilities through the mobile phone (Lui, Ngai, and Lo, 2016). It is also applying the virtual reality programs for training to have its employee across its stores be impacted with skills and experiences on how to deal with different types of the new incoming technologies at their various stores.
Online platform and shopping concierge service
Finally, the high tech retailer has greatly invested in the online platform using the Jet-black which is a new shopping concierge service emerging from store number 8 (Fernando, 2018). Using the AI-assisted by the human beings the program provides curated assortment of numerous product recommendations to its stakeholders both at Jet, Wal-Mart as well as to a selection of its partners such as Gap and Pottery Barn. It is focused on the consumers based in New York City as well as those few one who live in doorman buildings, a technology that no any other retail business operating in either inside outside the United States has adopted (Moosavi, and Zare, 2015). Wal-Mart strives to have more and more technological advancements be incorporated in its operations with an aim of making it attract and own the largest markets share in the industry. It is also clear that incorporation if new technological innovations in the world of business does not necessarily lead to high unemployment problems but instead leads to the creation of more opportunities for employment (Nulkar, 2014). Wal-Mart has been one of the leading employers in not only the United States of America but also in other countries where its stores are established.
Conclusion
Technology is one of the integral factors that have enabled Wal-Mart to be one of the successful companies in the United States of America enabling it to be listed on the various securities exchanges. This is as result of the able and efficient executive that has been able to focus on the efficiency and better methods of handling the operations of the Wal-Mart in order to reduce costs. Using Technology as its only solution, the company has had to incorporate and pioneer some of its technologies such use of robots in inventory management, use of technology in facilitating returns, using of technology in improving the efficiency of associates as well as enhancing more mobile upgrades that are essential for customer satisfaction and service. This has enabled the company to increase its market share, reduce costs related to loss of revenues as well as those related to labor. This technology has been the pillar behinds Walmart's successfulness.
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