Q 1 answer:

The retail industry is no more stable now. The conflict between offline and internet
shopping is where this is most evident. The actual experience of a product, individualized
service, and trust are the trademarks of traditional retail 1, while convenience, simple
payment methods, and an ever-expanding selection of possibilities are the trademarks of
online buying. Many people now doubt the sustainability of traditional retail 2 in light of
the success of large e-commerce companies like eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba.

Since there will always be some demand for visiting stores, high street shops won't ever
be fully replaced by online shopping. However, it is difficult to see how stores can
compete with their online equivalents if we are talking about which will become the most
popular method of shopping over the coming years.

Unlike other online shopping, Alibaba’s New Retail 3 is the largest e-commerce
corporation in the world (larger than Amazon and eBay put together), and it also has the
largest directory that links suppliers, who are primarily from Asia, with buyers from
around the globe. The founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, understood that the future of retail
would not be a battle between offline and online sales. These two cannot, in reality, be
the sole choices. Here comes New Retail. The foundation of new retail is the
straightforward idea that e-commerce won't completely rule the world in the future.
Instead, all transactions will be digitalized.

Alibaba boasts that more than 500 million people have shopped on its marketplaces,
making it one of the top e-commerce companies in China 4. Although brick-and-mortar
stores still account for more than 80% of all retail sales, China has the highest percentage
of online sales penetration globally. Although it is still in its infancy, Alibaba's new retail
idea is already changing the way that retailers innovate.

1
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2004.10.002
2
https://dspace.uc.ac.id/handle/123456789/1024
3
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/5590839/footnotes#footnotes
4
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.06.038
Hema, the new store from Alibaba, is much like any other supermarket: you can buy
fresh fish, groceries, fruits, and more. However, it's not your typical store. We can
experience Hema using your Smartphone, whether you're in the store or at home. When
shopping inside the store, you may use your phone to scan the barcodes to acquire
information on the products you're buying, including recipe suggestions. Payment is also
cashless! You can accomplish it using Taobao or the inbuilt Alipay platform in the Hema
app.5

Along with changing consumer interaction, new retail will also change the entire value
chain. Full stack digitization is involved. Retailers will be able to create supply chains
that are smarter, more adaptable, and able to manage goods across offline and online
channels. Data will also become more crucial than ever in the development of new
products. Retailers and brands will start to view everything through the lenses of
customer experience, business impact, and technological enablement.

By introducing digital shopping solutions into traditional retail, or "New Retail," it seeks
to transform the sector rather than replace it. Customers may browse the store with their
smartphones in hand, choose their products, and quickly have them delivered in 30
minutes to a 3-mile radius using a combination of e-commerce, restaurants, supermarkets,
and a distribution facility.

Alibaba has increased Hema to more than 65 outlets in the past year. Customers can even
make purchases at some Hema establishments by having kiosks scan their faces. The
retail giant recently launched its brand-new Robot. The restaurant is connected to a
Hema shop in Shanghai. Customers can order from the menu and scan a QR code at their
table inside using the Hema app on their phones. The majority of foods are then
robotically brought to tables, with the exception of huge dishes that require a human
server.

5
https://vue.ai/blog/leaders-in-retail/alibabas-new-retail-strategy-the-key-to-surviving-the-retail-
apocalypse/
Alibaba’s "auto vending machine," is a large automated structure. Customers may choose
a car on their phone and then be delivered with it so they can take it for a test drive before
seeing a traditional salesman, which is another concept that is currently under
development.

So, with all these features and special use of technology, we can clearly say that Alibaba
is trying to co-exist traditional successfully.
 Qsn 2 answer:

Retail, in its simplest form, is the sale of a good from a store to a consumer. Retail 6
transactions take place at a single point of sales, such as a store, website, direct sales
channel, or catalog. Retail is different from large wholesale transactions in that it is
focused on selling to the general population. Retail sales are typically small-scale and are
made directly to the end-user (the consumer) for personal use.

In today’s generation of technology, retailing has been more comfortable, and accessible
to every people. Here is a list of 5 top technologies that will change the way we
shop/retail.

1. Beacons

Beacons7 are mobile phones with Bluetooth capabilities that allow shops to
broadcast messages to customers in real-time based on where they are in the store.
Advantages of Beacons are:
 Increase the precision of consumer data
The tiny beacon can be a key component of retail business intelligence
since it connects mobile devices, applications, and back-office systems.
You can collect the following kinds of data using beacons:

1. locations in your stores where customers are most and least likely to enter
2. Employee activity in the stock rooms and on the sales floor
3. Shopper involvement levels with various product categories and individual
goods
4. Information on new and returning consumers
5. Utilization of resources in-store and across the supply chain

6
https://www.ringcentral.com/gb/en/blog/definitions/retail/
7
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8529470
  Enhance usability in-store
 Utilize local marketing
 Utilize a loyalty program to foster trust
 rise consumer attribution

Disadvantages of Beacons are:

 Physical constraints
Depending on the materials in the area or the closeness of other
beacons, beacon signals can easily be reflected or absorbed. As a
result, some areas of the store may become blind spots. Because of
this, beacons may send pointless notifications.

The timing of alerts is a further issue. Some notifications may arrive

with a delay as a result of varying Bluetooth connection strength,
intermittent operation of cell phone antennas, and beacon signals,
which destroys their relevancy and the idea of a continuous experience
overall.
 The moral implications
User privacy is only one aspect of informed consent practice. When
consumers are questioned about giving their agreement to the
processing of their personal information, they typically receive unclear
and inaccurate responses.8 Additionally, when it comes to beacons,
people must first be aware of their presence in order to grant any
consent. It will be challenging to determine whether any gadgets found
during a scan of the area belong to the company in question.
2. Facial Recognition

8
https://bindolabs.com/blog/store-beacons-retail
 A facial recognition system is a piece of technology that can compare a human
face from an image or video frame to a database of faces.
Advantage of Facial Recognition:
https://www.zerone-consulting.com/how-retailers-benefit-from-in-store-facial-
recognition/
 Customers receive personalized in-store experiences
 Stop shoplifting and other crimes against retail.
 Obtain retail insights that go beyond the face

The disadvantage of Facial Recognition:

 Interferes with privacy.

 Fraud and other crimes as a result of misuse.
 Innocent people may be blamed for mistakes.

3. Robot Assistants
A robot personal assistant9 is an artificial intelligence that assists you with routine
domestic chores and improves your quality of life.
https://diceus.com/robotics-in-retail-use-cases/
Advantages of Robot Assistance are:
 Customer service
 improved effectiveness

 Improved accuracy.

Disadvantages of Robot Assistance are:

 stealing human employment that can cause issues with public relations
 unable to manage unforeseen circumstances10
 Robots lack human-level intelligence.
9
https://books.google.com.np/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=I8WPDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=robot+assistant+in+retail&ots=QLZC1qKFOR&sig=rZ1
Lrmj7_CkNsSFo3yo8MSAHIsY&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=robot%20assistant%20in%20retail&f=false
 4. Smart Mirrors

A two-way mirror called a "Smart Mirror" has an integrated display hidden

behind the glass.11
Advantages of Smart Mirrors are:
 Capacity to show important information without requiring the user to take
any action or open any apps
 Motion Sensor and superimpose clothing
 Act as a virtual changing room.
 Bring ease to online shopping
 Saves time to try a new outfit and decide.

The disadvantage of Smart Mirrors is it lacks human interaction

5. Auto Checkout
An automated checkout system raises the bar for convenience by enabling
customers to enter the store, get what they need, and then leave without having to
physically check out.
Advantages of Auto Checkout12 are:
 Express retail self-service facilities
 Mobile scanner and smart carts
 self-service checkout terminals
 Automatic charging

10
https://www.online-sciences.com/robotics/robotic-grocery-store-supermarket-automation-uses-
advantages-disadvantages/

11
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121118

12
https://sprintingretail.com/blog/retail-self-checkout-systems/
The disadvantage of Auto checkout

 Increase in threat
 expensive
 Qsn 3 answer:

In order to meet the difficulties posed by numerous disruptive forces, supermarkets

urgently need to reform and alter their business models. A renowned provider of retail
solutions powered by artificial intelligence, Symphony Retail Ai, has reached the same
conclusion after conducting its own research. They summarized their idea of what
supermarkets would look like in 2020 in a recently released video.

According to Symphony Retail’s vision of supermarket 2020, only a limited selection of

goods will be available in the market for sale, namely high-end and convenient things.
The complete selection is accessible online where many new technologies are praised to
work, and touch displays provide a handy way to browse and order items for later
delivery or pickup. The majority of the store will, however, be used as a gathering place
for local restaurants or farmers' markets.

As mentioned in the question, my supermarket of the future would meet all the areas of
retail vision and would be a technology-based market. It would contain the following
things:

1. E-commerce
One of the biggest dangers to the supermarket industry is e-commerce. 13 Because of
this, in the upcoming years, customer experience will be by far the most important
trend and emphasis for supermarkets. The greatest method for supermarkets to resist
the move to online buying is to develop unique in-store experiences that aren't
available there. E-commerce helps a lot in supermarkets. It gains customer visibility,
lowers the cost, and helps to locate the entire product in a short period of time. Due to
E-commerce, there will be a comparison in the mart as well which will be very
efficient.
2. Small and Smart Mart

13
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/APJML-11-2018-0461/full/html
 The Smart Mart has no cashiers. With the aid of unique automated technology, every
order is delivered to the consumer. Technicians virtually watch the store around the
clock, helping customers and maintaining quality control. With new supermarkets
being built with a reduced footprint to allow for lower break-even levels, there is a
decline in the super-sized stores of the past. Customers find this size to be more
attractive, which speeds up the purchasing process.

Pop-up grocery stores are an even more compact form that is springing up in food
deserts (low-income areas without access to grocery stores) to provide locals with
fresh and wholesome food. Urban regions lacking the space for a full-size
supermarket are also seeing the emergence of these tiny businesses. Community
events can even be scheduled to coincide with the appearance of these urban pop-ups,
which can be shown in trailers on a weekly or biweekly timetable.
3. Local Pride
Retailers now have a huge opportunity since customers are genuinely supporting
local businesses rather than simply stating they do it. Many of your consumers have
an emotional capacity for local pride, and by appealing to it, even in the B2B 14
environment, we can influence their choice to buy from respective companies.

Similarly, there are also things that supermarkets shouldn’t contain. Here are the lists
of the things that supermarket of my in future wouldn’t contain:
1. Cashiers
Self-checkout (SCO) machines15 often referred to as assisted (ACO) or self-service
(SSC) checkouts, enable customers to complete their own transactions from a retailer
without requiring a conventional staffed checkout. Since there is a self-checkout
system; the number of cashiers is not required in the supermarket.
2. Supporting Staff

14
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2010.06.026
15
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11628-016-0302-9
 Retailers employ QR codes in a variety of applications and locations.  They are
also used in supermarkets16.  Owners of smartphones may easily access information
using QR codes on their mobile devices about the products in supermarkets.
As we have new technology, QR-Code scanner to let the information of any stuff. So,
this reduces the supporting staff.
Hence, these above mentioned are a list of some of the things that my supermarket
would and wouldn’t contain in the future.

Qsn 4 answer:

Location-based marketing (LBM) 17is a direct marketing technique that notifies the owner
of a mobile device about a deal from a nearby company by using the device's location.
Location-based alerts are typically sent to mobile devices via SMS text messages.

Marketing teams can target customers based on specific criteria, such as location to a
store, local events, and more, using location data.18 The entire customer lifecycle, from
discovery and purchase to engagement and retention, has shown that location marketing

16
https://doi.org/10.1109/IMIS.2013.87

17
https://www.marketingevolution.com/knowledge-center/topic/marketing-essentials/location-
based-marketing

18
https://www.experian.com/blogs/partner-solutions/2014/08/location-based-marketing-ethics-
and-privacy-concerns/
 is beneficial. Along with benefits and importance; there are some ethical considerations
around business knowing every place we visit as well.

Globalization, work conditions and circumstances, workplace diversity and equal

opportunity, child labor, trust and integrity, supervisory oversight, human rights, religion,
the political sphere, the environment, bribery, and nepotism are some of the most
frequent ethical issues in business19. When it comes to decisions about products, prices,
promotions, locations, and other marketing strategies, ethical considerations in marketing
connect to moral and value judgments.

Business ethics cover a broad range of topics that fall within an organization's ethical
guidelines. Promoting behavior based on honesty and trust are fundamental ethical
challenges in business, but more complicated issues include embracing diversity, making
decisions with empathy, and abiding by regulation and governance that is in line with the
organization's basic principles. According to the 2019 Global Business Ethics Survey 20,
25% of employees still believe that senior managers lack a solid awareness of the major
business risks related to ethics and compliance across the organization.

Location-based marketing has grown in popularity as a tool for firms in 2014 to assess
consumer preferences and habits. Trackers gather pings from cell phones and can provide
businesses with a variety of data about you, including the times and locations of your
purchases as well as the length of time you spend in a store and how frequently you visit
a particular location. Businesses use this data to decide how to market their products most
effectively.

Many people are worried about their privacy because of this new tracking technique.
More than 50% of respondents to a recent Punchtab study indicated that they did not
want to be tracked at all by shops. When specific conditions were met, about 27 percent
were receptive. The majority of the 50% of consumers, who wanted not to be monitored,
listed "privacy" as their top concern. Those that were receptive to being tracked by

19
https://sprigghr.com/blog/hr-professionals/6-ethical-issues-in-business-and-what-to-do-about-them
20
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.039
 merchants were prepared to trade part of their information for discounts or special offers,
among other things.

From a privacy21 standpoint, the fact that many customers are unaware they are being
tracked is what worries me the most about location-based marketing. Businesses
frequently tuck the notification that they are following you within lengthy terms of
service contracts that are unlikely to be read, even though this method of marketing is
legal. We can use a number of apps, such as Xprivacy, Ghostery, and AVG PrivacyFix,
to prevent mobile monitoring, according to Marketing Week. These programs secure
your mobile device by blocking, but they also manage data use permissions.

Management is where ethical problems in the company always begin. 22 Transparency and
ethical company practices can be implemented by having clearly established policies and
processes that ensure such principles are acknowledged and followed. There are various
regular actions that can be taken to successfully recognize and, more significantly,
prevent ethical business issues from emerging in the organization. When making
decisions, we have to be sure to discuss, uphold, and require compliance with a strong
code of ethics and Stay track of the anti-discrimination laws in effect in the respective
area. We have to remain aware of the laws affecting the sector and make sure that the
company is functioning in accordance with them.

21
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.02.042
22
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-create-a-privacy-policy-that-protects-your-company-and-your-
customers/