Competitive Differentiation: Competitive Differentiation: Using Technology to Deliver on Using Technology to Deliver on
Staples EASY Brand PromiseStaples EASY Brand Promise
Scott Floeck, Sr. Vice President, Staples, Inc.Scott Floeck, Sr. Vice President, Staples, Inc.
[email protected]@staples.com
Competitive SpectrumMass Targeted
Mega-retailers offer consumers reasonable levels of quality at
very low prices through scale and operating efficiency
Differentiated retail specialists are driving value to the consumer by
delivering a very personalized shopping experience
ProductPrice
Industry competitors must
have highly focused, relevant
value propositions to grow in a world
of extremes
Retail IndustryRetail Industry
Access
Service
Experience
Build-A-Bear
Consumer Relevancy Model:• Product - customers will come to us for our depth and breadth of
Office Supply products (authority), having the right product in the right
place at the right time.
• Experience - provide a differentiated customer experience by making it
easy for our customers to shop and buy.
• Price - value price (at par with competitors).
• Access - continue to improve store format making our stores, catalog,
and online channels easy to shop (at par with competitors).
•Service - continue to provide good service, next day delivery (at par
with competitors)
Retail IndustryRetail Industry
Build such a strong emotional Build such a strong emotional connection with our core customers connection with our core customers that they are willing to drive by the that they are willing to drive by the
competition to shop at Staples’.competition to shop at Staples’.
Staples’Staples’ Long Term GoalLong Term Goal
Staples’ Easy Brand PromiseStaples’ Easy Brand Promise
We are focusing on Easy Brand “proof We are focusing on Easy Brand “proof points” to differentiate Staplespoints” to differentiate Staples
Customer Experience
Associate
Customer
Content Expert Librarian Self-Service Empowerment
Differentiated Differentiated ServiceService Through Customer Through Customer EmpowermentEmpowerment
Focus on Training and Product Knowledge
Focus on Customer Service and Product
Knowledge Tools
Focus on Convenience
“That was Easy”
Focus on Customer Facing Product
Knowledge Tools to Enable Informed
Decisions•Multi Media Training
•Satellite Broadcast
•Web Training
•In-Store Kiosks
•Product Knowledge Tools
Selection•Product Information•Self-Service•Channel Agnostic
Checkout•Self-Checkout•Payment Services
Service•Customer Assistance •Customer Portal
•Product Knowledge Tools, Comparisons, Recommendations
•Shelf Edge (Audio / Video)
•Customers Device
•On-Line Interactive Help
Enterprise Architecture for a More Enterprise Architecture for a More Responsive ISResponsive IS
Service-Oriented
Architecture (SOA)
SOA enables reuse of software leading to
more adaptable applications
Application Characteristics
VisibilityThe ability of the users to see the data
needed to do their jobs
SimplicityThe ability to respond quickly to
changing business needs by consolidating redundancy
FlexibilityThe ability to quickly add new
functionality
Data IntegrityThe ability for users to see relevant
and correct informationInfrastructure Characteristics
SimplicityReduce TCO by reducing the number
of configurations that need to be supported
Flexible ProvisioningThe ability to respond quickly to
changing business needs by quickly adjusting server capacity
Vendor Independence
Flexibility to utilize vendor that best meet business needs
On Demand Infrastructure
An IT infrastructure that dynamically and
automatically optimizes itself to meet the needs of business applications
Responsive IS
Applications And
Infrastructure
Infrastructure: On-Demand Computing Infrastructure: On-Demand Computing with Commodity Componentswith Commodity Components
SOA applications more flexible but more complex requiring more server capacity
Open systems commodity components will “right-size” the infrastructure
investments needed to build out the SOA
Legacy “green screen” applications run on traditional
large high cost servers
Single, high-cost server
Large incremental investments to add server capacity
Monolithic applications
Smaller, less expensive servers
Small incremental investments to add server capacity
Modular applications
Traditional Infrastructure
Open Systems Infrastructure
Application Strategy: Buy for parity, Application Strategy: Buy for parity, Build for Competitive AdvantageBuild for Competitive Advantage
Single Suite ProviderPros
•Ensures parity
•Reduced TCO
•Standardization:
• Data
• Processes
• U/I
Cons
• No differentiation
• Less flexibility, may restrict business processes, responsiveness
• Longer time to value
• Vendor risk
Best of Breed Point SolutionBest of Breed Point SolutionPros
• Shorter time to value
• Less vendor risk
Cons
• Increases vendor management load
• Harder to integrate
• Market consolidation forces frequently mean point solutions eventually become part of a suite
All Custom BuildPros
• Tailored functionality
• Enables business process based differentiation
Cons
• Development costs
• Maintenance costs
• Harder to integrate with packaged applications
Enterprise Architecture Must Integrate Custom Built And Off-the-Shelf Applications
Enterprise Architecture Must Integrate Custom Built And Off-the-Shelf Applications
Best Balance
IS will move from a large number of best of breed
and custom solutions
towards single suite providers
Buy For Parity Build For Comp Advantage
Heavily customized packaged applications will rapidly become custom built applications supported by Staples
IS
Packaged applications should only be extended if the core is not changed and the package upgrade path is
retained
ManageProject Manager / IS Manager
Implications of Strategy on Skillset Implications of Strategy on Skillset RequirementsRequirements
Focus on:Focus on:
Business Process
Requirements
Design
Project Management
Innovation
Focus on:Focus on:
Business Process
Requirements
Design
Project Management
Innovation
Define
Design
Build
Str
ate
gy
Business & Technology
Business Analyst
System Analyst
Technical Architecture
Developer
Quality Assurance
Dep
loySoftware Delivery
Job Scheduler
MO
RE LES
S
Differentiation
How will we develop IT Leaders for the How will we develop IT Leaders for the Future?Future?
Help Help DeskDesk
IT OperationsIT Operations
Security - Security - EngineersEngineers
DevelopersDevelopers
Business Analyst - Business Analyst - ArchitectsArchitects
Project ManagersProject Managers MarketingMarketing
Supply ChainSupply Chain
MerchandisingMerchandising
HRHR
FinanceFinance
OperationsOperations
ITIT BusinessBusiness
CIOCIO