Across several years and two Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, a team of London Met researchers developed an e-business platform and integrated business forecasting tool for a multi-channel consumer electronics retailer based in London. By providing critical web technology and solutions for data warehousing and forecasting, the research team contributed to a range of benefits including enhanced revenue generation and reduced staff workload.
Prof. Karim Ouazzane, Prof. Preeti Patel, Dr Samson Habte, Dr David Ward and Dr Sajid Afzal collaborated with Ask Outlets Ltd. through Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme. KTPs aim to maximise the strengths of each partner involved; in this instance enabling London Met researchers to showcase how their work responds to specific commercial challenges.
Multi-channel consumer electronics retailers operate within a highly competitive market and are often under pressure to invest in new communication and information technologies to increase productivity. SMEs such as Ask Outlets are particularly vulnerable to market fluctuations and often lack a dedicated IT services team to develop or support bespoke technological solutions.
The research team at London Met designed and developed tools to combat these challenges: a) a bespoke customer relationship management (CRM) system capable of identifying consumer purchasing behaviours and providing greater customer base interactions, and b) an integrated business-forecasting tool to support decision-making processes.
As a result of the KTPs, Ask Outlets reported benefits to revenue generation, staff workload, competitor monitoring and new trend identification, with improvements continuing long after the partnerships concluded.
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