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Sears and UPS: Challenges & Benefits of Wireless e-Business & e-Commerce. Chapter 6 Case 1. Wireless Applications. E-business wireless applications: being used to dispatch information to field service technicians or connect embedded factory machines to one another.
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Sears and UPS:Challenges & Benefits of Wireless e-Business & e-Commerce Chapter 6 Case 1
Wireless Applications • E-business wireless applications: being used to dispatch information to field service technicians or connect embedded factory machines to one another. • E-commerce wireless applications: m-commerce (mobile commerce) allows users to use wireless devices to obtain product information and make purchases.
M-Commerce • Banks and airlines see m-commerce as a growth area because their customers see time as critically important. • Consumers response to m-commerce is not as positive. Navigating small screens of PDSs and Web-enabled cell phones is not popular with these users.
e-Business and Wireless • Three e-business categories for corporate interest in wireless include: • Messaging business e-mail • Wireless LAN’s • Wireless embedded devices.
Wireless e-Business Applications • Wireless embedded business devices are becoming an essential component of many businesses today. • Wireless e-mail and field services • Wireless LANs
Wireless at Sears: • Equipped 12,500 field service technicians with wireless-ready laptops. • Nightly, technicians download the next day’s service orders via phone line. • Access data networks in the field to access realtime updates on the scheduled day of service. • Result: 75 percent drop in number of phone calls by technicians, increased savings, better customer service.
Sears: Benefits of Wireless • Major cost savings and customer service benefits in its program to arm its field technicians with wireless-ready laptops. • Return on investment within one year.
UPS: Wireless Strategy • Spending massive amounts to employ wireless LANs and wireless embedded devices like ring-mounted manual scanners to consolidate and streamline all scanning operations in its huge packaged distribution centers.
UPS: Benefits of Wireless • Significant business benefits including simplified operations, lower costs, faster application development, lower support requirements, and improved data integrity. • Result: Increased customer satisfaction.
UPS: Customer Shipping Tracking • Outsourced to Air2Web, a wireless application service provider. • Reason: • Learning curve for wireless was high • Technology was vast • Air2Web had the expertise.