Abstract
The global retail industry changed drastically over the recent years as online shopping, led by gigantic Amazon, harvests an ever-increasing large share of the total retail market with the coronavirus pandemic making the future uncertain for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. Today's customers are increasingly expecting a tailored, personalized shopping experience. They expect to be able to shop anywhere, at any time, and from any location. In this context, information and communication technology (ICT) is ushering in a new dawn for retail customers. The internet of things (IoT) is the new generation of internet-connected ICT systems in a digital environment that plays an essential role in retail business process automation. However, security issues in IoT-based retail applications have caught significant attention in academia and industry. Therefore, there is a need to educate retail business operation managers about the potential security risks of IoT-based business information systems.
TopIntroduction
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted global retail industries and supply chains, revealing dreadful gaps and vulnerabilities. Retailers face challenges in managing risks and organizing themselves to accommodate the 'new daily situation scenario’ (Pal, 2023). The coronavirus outbreak has established a fragile operating environment for retail supply chains. It has put forward the question of survival for regular business operations, forcing organizations to rethink resilient strategies to mitigate the long-term effects of this virus on retail industries. At the same time, customers are increasingly looking for a tailored, personal shopping experience.
As a requirement, the personal shopping experience includes shopping anywhere, at any time, and from any location, such as in an office environment or on a bus journey. The perceptive customers thoroughly search for the right price and expect multiple purchase options and flexible delivery times. In addition, customers demand that the desired product is available, in the right size and colour, at the time of the purchase. Retail businesses are expected to meet these demands, regardless of the channel the customer is using. Leading retailers are also expected to be able to offer comprehensive product information, product reviews, and inventory visibility and availability information to the stakeholders. In other words, if the retailers are not meeting these expectations, business operations redevelopment should be the company's top priority and not lose market share.
In addition, the rapid changes in sales and distribution channels in recent years due to the coronavirus pandemic, with a central focus on human-centered shopping experience to the growing importance of more customized products and faster and safer delivery, has led to the recent trend of the Omni-channel sales and marketing objectives. The higher expectation for personalized products, services, disruptive production, information technology (IT), and information and data communication techniques are driving the improvement of production and service delivery activities. Asides from conventional software system technologies (SSTs) (e.g., enterprise resource planning (ERP)) help monitor supply chain functions such as purchasing, transportation, storage, distribution, sales, and return (Pal, 2018). Many intelligent devices recently joined the list under the coined technical term, IoT umbrella of technologies, and it has an essential means to address information capture and exchange it in real-time with neighboring devices/applications. In addition, the advances in IoT applications in the sensor technologies (i.e., metallic, liquid, and novel materials) are expected to revolutionize retail business (Kahlert et al., 2017); and its acceptance and potential to integrate retail supply chain processes are largely underdeveloped for theoretical and practical implications.
There have been many research studies that have investigated the IoT-based logistics services for Omni-channel in the literature, and the proposed information system's architecture does not only involve the new logistics distribution approach quick generative delivery with the latest IoT technology but also realizes the need for dynamic order fulfillment in the new paradigm shift of manufacturing or production, and transport systems. The proposed IoT-based logistics system has the potential to be a disruptive and novel logistics system by providing an integrated, seamless Omni-channel journey for modern customers.
Aside from conventional ICT technologies help monitor supply chain functions such as purchasing, transportation, storage, distribution, sales, and return (Pal, 2018). With many other intelligent devices recently joining the list under the newly coined IoT umbrella of technologies, the potential to address information capture and exchange in real time has multiplied (Atzori, 2018). Although the advances in IoT applications in the sensor are expected to revolutionize retail business (Kahlert et al., 2017), its acceptance and potential to integrate supply chain processes are largely underdeveloped for theoretical and practical implications.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Cryptography: Blockchain’s transactions achieve validity, trust, and finality based on cryptographic proofs and underlying mathematical computations between various trading partners.
Decentralized Computing Infrastructure: These computing infrastructures feature computing nodes that can make independent processing and computational decisions irrespective of what other peer computing nodes may decide.
Supply Chain Management: A supply chain consists of a network of key business processes and facilities, involving end-users and suppliers that provide products, services, and information.
Warehouse: A warehouse can also be called a storage area, and it is a commercial building where raw materials or goods are stored by suppliers, exporters, manufacturers, or wholesalers, they are constructed and equipped with tools according to special standards depending on the purpose of their use.
Internet of Things (IoT): The Internet of Things (IoT), also called the Internet of Everything or the Industrial Internet, is now a technology paradigm envisioned as a global network of machines and devices capable of interacting with each other. The IoT is recognized as one of the most important areas of future technology and is gaining vast attention from a wide range of industries.