Impact of IT on Sales Industry with special reference to Retail, FMCG & E-Commerce Industries

1.    Introduction

The days are gone when the strategy of marketing and sales used to happen in a traditional way. The world has become small by glocalization because of tremendous development in technology. The competition has increased across the globe irrespective of the industry segments where the companies are investing huge amounts in technology implementation in their organization to become sustainable. The technology is been implemented in all areas and functions of the organization and when it comes to sales apart from ERP technologies separate sales technologies are being implemented to increase monitoring and track sales. It is very important to track, and generate analytics and metrics of the sales patterns which shall help in planning the entire operations of the organization hence, Information technology in sales is very important.

The IT in Retail, FMCG, and E-Commerce play a crucial role as there are many product lines, and diverse products and the mode of operations/ sales of the sales have multiple dimensions. As stated that there because of tremendous competition organizations are expanding beyond geographical horizons and diversifying their products and tracking the sales patterns, product wise sales, location wise sales, season wise sales are very important along with the strategy of enabling the sales technologies to do market research also.

In this project, the role of IT in the sales industry with reference to retail, FMCG & E-Commerce shall be analyzed using the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental (PESTLE), Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT), Ishikawa diagrams. The five dominant sales technologies shall be analyzed based on their features, number of customers, performance, etc., and one of these five technology be selected and analyzed further. Based on the analysis the findings shall be drawn and the recommendation shall be given.

2.    Objectives

  • To analyze the role of IT in sales
  • To understand the role of IT in retail, FMCG, and E-Commerce industries
  • Evaluating the five dominant technologies in sales
  • Analyzing one of the five selected technologies to understand the pros and cons
  • To explore the challenges in implementing IT in sales
  • To explore the advantages and disadvantages of implementing IT in sales
  • To understand the data integrity and safety measures incorporated in sales technologies
  • To explore how IT is enabling the organization to attract new customers
  • To explore the strategies for how IT is helping organizations in retaining their existing customers.
  • To analyze how IT technologies are bridging the gap between customers and organizations by enabling their effective communication channels.
  • To explore the limitation of IT in the selected industries.

3.    Need of the study

It is evident that the competition is been increasing across the globe in all industry segments and it is becoming tough for the organization to be sustainable. In any industry, whether it is products/ goods or services sales are very important as revenues are generated only through sales and it is very important to increase sales strategically and this can be enabled only through technology.

Many IT and software companies are developing and transforming technologies in the sales segment because of growing demand. There are various challenges, and limitations which are involved in sales IT technologies such as data integrity, data security, etc., along with the cost of the technologies hence, there is a need to explore and do research in this area and that is the reason for selecting this topic. 

4.    Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is confined to the Indian environment. The scope is limited to Retail, FMCG, and E-Commerce industries. There are various sales IT technologies available in the Indian market but only the top five of them shall be selected and analyzed out of which one technology shall be deeply analyzed. The scope deals only with the impact, challenges, advantages, and disadvantages of sales IT technologies in the selected industries in the Indian environment.

5.    Research Methodology

This research shall be carried out in a systematic way. All important components shall be covered and all ethical issues shall be addressed. There shall be any copied content in this research and there shall be any copyrights, etc., issues.

5.1  Research Paradigms

Positivism, Critical theory, Realism, Critical Realism, and Constructivism and the research paradigms which shall be followed in this research.

5.2  Data Collection

The data collection shall be divided into two dimensions primary data and secondary data and these data shall be collected from various sources like academic notes, books, journals, articles, blogs, and various internet sources. The primary data and the secondary data analysis shall be done and the same shall be incorporated in the literature review chapter of the final project document.

5.3  Data Analysis

The qualitative analysis tool shall be used in this study. The tools such as SWOT Analysis, PESTLE Analysis, and the Ishikawa diagram shall be used and during the research, if we found that any additional tools are required to use we shall explore and use those tools and incorporate them data analysis chapter of the final project report.

A Study on Impact of FDI in Indian Hospitality Industry at Hyderabad

This survey is purely based out of Hyderabad and the data collected is through various sources the data has been analyzed and then the Impact of FDI on Indian hospitality has been concluded.

Objectives of the Study:

  • The Major objective of the study is to understand the concept of Foreign Direct Investment
  • The Impact of FDI in India and its economy
  • The Impact of FDI on the Hospitality Industry in India
  • The SWOT and PESTLE Factors of Hospitality and their impact through FDI
  • Industry Perception and the customer’s perception in terms of the increase in the facilities

Scope of the Study:


The scope of the study is based on the FDI, the policies, and procedures. The hospitality industry in India, The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on the Hospitality Industry especially the Hospitality and the Tourism Industry. The Data is being collected from senior officials of private Hospitality and people from different hospitality backgrounds. The scope while collecting data with respect to Foreign Direct Investment etc., is across the pan India level and the data SWOT & PESTLE analysis is done based on the pan India scenario and the data.

Need of the Study:


Foreign Direct Investment is playing a key role in developing the economy and creating employment in host countries. When it comes to hospitality there are many aspects where the taste and the preferences of the people of the nation have to be taken care and there is a thin line that will have positive and negative aspects of FDI in the hospitality Industry. And that is the reason for considering the topic for my research study as a part of my academics.

Limitations:

  • Exact figures of FDI & Investments in the Hospitality Industry as there are many segments that come under this.
  • Duration of the project which is a time constraint.
  • Data Collected from Customers and the representatives of the Hospitality Industry
  • SWOT changes as per PESTLE which is a variable one and analysis is done based on the existing scenario.

Research Methodology:

The main objective of my study is to Identify the Impact either positive or negative which is been on the Hospitality sector due to Foreign Direct Investment.

Findings:

  • Foreign Direct Investment is consistently Increasing in India.
  • The FDI with respect to Hospitality Industry is recording a growth of 5% every year.
  • The FDI in hospitality is Increasing competition and the small Players who could not cope are closing/ winding up their businesses.
  • The new properties are coming up across India in places like Bhiwandi, Ankleshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad where 90% of the Hotels and resorts are being constructed by Foreign Investments and by foreign players.
  • The traditional Players like Taj, Oberoi, etc., could compete with foreign brands like west woods, Sheraton, etc.,
  • This competition is letting the prices go as low as possible which is in the budgets for Middle class and above middle-class people whereas the three-star category and 5 Star category of Indian Hospitality companies could not give.
  • Combos like Flights, Hotels, Cab, Tourism, etc., are being offered and it is a mix, this is the blend where the domestic hospitality players are suffering.
  • There are Players who are coming up with the concerts and they are mixing the modern with the Indian Tradition where the staff will be wearing the Rajasthani, Bengali, Gujarathi, etc., attires in their duties.
  • FDI is coming in Dollars and when it is compared with Indian Rupee the ratio is high, that is the reason there are more than 189 Properties where Foreign Investors are Investing in India.
  • The Values, Traditions, cultures, etc., fashion, lifestyles, food habits, and the changing tastes and preferences of Indian earning segments.

Recommendations:

  • The Indian Hospitality companies have to cope with the changing tastes and the preferences of the Indian earning segment people.
  • The economy of India is growing and FDI has its own contribution to this, apart from Hospitality there are many other segments like service, IT, ITES, Manufacturing, etc., and Industries where there are inflows of FDI which is an Indirect driver for an Increase in Hospitality Industry.
  • Indian Hospitality has to adopt new technologies in attracting customers and even give them the best service at low prices.
  • The blend and the mix of offers like Flight/Train/Bus tour Packages, Hotels, Food, etc., should be there as a part of their Marketing Mix and the Marketing Plan or the Business Model.
  • The Themes and the concerts etc., to be organized, there is a need to keep up and retain the cultures and the traditions of India but it has to be aligned in line with the need of the hour of the customers.
  • tourism is another Industry that is consistently in India for the past 5 years where there are many foreign visitors coming to India and again there is a path and a way to showcase the customs and the values of India in Hospitality in a creative way to increase profitability.

Conclusion:


The Impact Foreign Direct Investment is having two different types of effects in India. When it comes to Hospitality Industry it is creating turbulence and making small players wind up their Businesses. The other way is that it is forcing the competitors to decrease the prices and attract customers with offers, coupons, etc. When it comes to the business environment end of the day is competition and the business environment. When it comes to customer delight, the customer is getting the best service with the best standards at competitive prices.

The Major problem area observed here is that due to a lack of Market research and strategies, Indian Hospitality companies failed in estimating the growth in the Indian economy. There is a growth in IT, ITES, Pharma, etc., industries along with Tourism, this is the area where foreign Hospitality companies have identified and invested a huge amount in India in this industry. The financial strength of Indian Hospitality companies is another aspect. The aggressive Investments, Competitive prices, Corporate tie-ups, Offers, packages, etc.,
The Indian hospitality companies also failed in forecasting and estimate the changing preferences and tastes of Indians and foreigners who are visiting India.
The technical aspects like mobile applications, conferences, events, live telecasting, etc., Digital Marketing, online bookings with packages, etc., are the areas where Indian small and Medium hospitality companies have to work to sustain in this highly competitive environment created by Foreign Direct Investment in Indian Hospitality Industry.