Smart BookstoreAdvantages of RFID Technology

10 Dec 2008

Devin Blong, Jonathan Breitbart, Julian Couhault, Jessica Santana

INFO 290-1 Information Systems and Services Design

Project Description

Consultants to a large chain bookstore that provides multichannel retail services

Goals: Increase sales (online and offline)

Improve in-store efficiency

Improve customer satisfaction

Help company gather more useful marketing data

Strategy: Capitalize on growing RFID technology Better tracking of bookstore physical items

Improved customer browsing/purchasing data

Stakeholders

Stakeholder Role Goal PriorityPotential

Negative

Bookstore Executives Principal Increase Profits and Company Worth M

Company IT Depts. Partner Easy integration and limited disruption of existing systems S X

Physical Store

Manager(s)

Partner/End

User

Increase efficiency (improve inventory control and

employee time use)

M X

Increase sales (increase store traffic and conversions) M

Marketing

Department/Customer

Relations

Partner/End

User

Find and utilize new and better customer data M X

Improve promotions S

Improve customer satisfaction S

Legal Department Partner Address privacy concerns S/C X

Customers End User Quick and easy access to desired books S X

Bookstore Designers

(layout)

End User Identify optimal store layout (both for sales and operations) C

Physical Store

Employees

End User Make jobs easier (and keep their jobs) C X

Operations/Purchases End User Improved inventory management and tracking M X

Minimize labor costs S

Basic System Components

RFID tagging of bookstore items RFID tagging of membership cards RFID readers RFID tracking system RFID event processing system Integration with inventory system

In-store customer kiosks Employee/Manager information dashboard Unified customer portals Integrated online and in-store browsing and purchasing Integration with marketing systems

Information Flow Diagram

Prototyping: Example Scenario

Customer searches for a book in the store Receives book location and targeted recommendations,

promotions

Retrieves interesting books

Discards one, purchases the rest

Employee receives two action alerts Zombie (misplaced) book

A certain title needs restocking

Service blueprints and mock-ups from the two perspectives

Scenario Stakeholder Requirements

CustomersEmpowered customer service, user friendly and

intuitive mapping directions (interviews)

User friendly kiosks and customer search portals (interviews, competitive analyses)

Integrated browsing and purchasing history (interviews,

competitive analyses, literature)

Scenario Stakeholder Requirements

Store employeesReal-time inventory and item tracking (interviews, literature)

Real-time stock and item alerts

User friendly and rich information dashboards (competitive

analyses)

Ability to easily access customer profile information, purchase history, and preferences (interviews, literature)

Scenario Stakeholder Requirements

Store managersReal-time inventory and item tracking (interviews, literature)

Real-time stock and item alerts

Easily dispatch inventory actions to employees (literature,

interviews)

Allow for flexible floor stocking and easy stock replenishment (literature)

Customer Searches for BookP

hys

ica

l

Evid

en

ce

Kiosk

Welcome

Screen /

Members

Card

Member

Profile

Screen

Member

Profile /

Search

Interface

Book

Directions /

Map, Coupon

BooksBooks /

Receipt

Use

r A

cti

on

s

Customer

approaches

bookstore

kiosk

Customer

swipes

members

card, logs in

to kiosk

Customer

considers

suggestions

Customer

searches for

book

Customer

prints book

location map

and coupon

discounts

Customer

walks to book

locations and

retrieves

books

Customer

discards one

book and

purchases the

rest

Fro

nt

Sta

ge

Welcome

Screen

Members

Profile

Screen,

Suggestions,

Promotions

Kiosk search

interface

Book location

and tailored

promotions

Checkout and

registers

Bac

k S

tag

e

Kiosk

software

queries

Kiosk returns

user profile,

suggestions,

promotions

Kiosk

software

queries

Kiosk returns

book location,

bundled

promotional

discounts

Systems logs

customer

purchases

Su

pp

ort

Customer

Database

Marketing

Database

Inventory DB /

Location DB

Customer DB

/ Inventory DB

Mock-Up #1

Mock-Up #1

Zombie Book and RestockingP

hys

ica

l

Evid

en

ce

Employee

Dashboard

Employee

DashboardMap / Book

Employee

Dashboard

Employee

DashboardMap / Books

Use

r A

cti

on

s

Employee

checks

computer

screen

Employee

sees zombie

book action

alert

Employee

clicks on alert

Employee

retrieves book

and replaces

it

Employee

sees

restocking

action alert

Employee

clicks on alert

Employee

retrieves

copies from

stock and

replenishes

shelf

Fro

nt

Sta

ge Employee

dashboard

alert section

Alert details

link

Map with

current book

location

Employee

dashboard

alert section

Alert details

link

Map with

stock room

and shelf

book locations

Ba

ck

Sta

ge

Enterprise

Service Bus

(ESB)

integrates

RFID data,

identifies

zombie book

Employeesystem queries

Kiosk returns

zombie book’s

current

location

ESB

integrates

RFID data,

identifies book

that needs

restocking

Employeesystem queries

Kiosk returns

book’s

location in

stock room

and target

shelf location

Su

pp

ort

Event Stream

Processing

(ESP), RFID

Tracking tool,

Inventory DB

Location DB

ESP, RFID

Tracking tool,

Inventory DB

Location DB

Mock-Up #2

Mock-Up #2

Conclusions

Large scope of our projectDifficult to focus our design effortsWe explored many different applications/functions

Project involves multiple technologies, industriesSignificant further research necessary Inner workings of technologies not yet addressed

Possible future work:Data collection and marketing integrationPrivacy and customer advocacyAutomated checkoutCustomer profile integration with outside systems

Course Reflections

Great introduction to a full service/system design process Integration of multiple perspectives

Many extremely useful (and novel) techniques:Service blueprinting, for example

Initial research could be more useful at beginning of the project

Choosing an industry with easy access might have proved more fruitfulConnections to actual companies/institutions?

Better communication about project expectations