Question One
Apart from being punctual and efficient in response to the customers’ needs, a convenient store can be more responsive by offering additional services to the customers. The additional services may include the transportation of the commodities to the customers’ place of preference, or the provision of discounts on various amounts of purchases made by their customers. Moreover, the store can be more responsive by adding more value to their products, for example, giving additional items after the customer purchases certain items from the store.
Question Two
The challenges associated with the micro matching of supply and demand as is evident in the 7-Eleven Japan, include the fact that the regular customers will miss most of the commodities because the unanticipated customers will come in and buy most of the items. Therefore, the store might run out of stock and the customers will relocate to other suppliers. Additionally, some of the demand might shift permanently, to other sites, hence reducing the customers’ base for one of the 7-Eleven Japan Site. Therefore, the replenishment may be excessive in one site and very low in the adjacent site, hence creating an imbalance. In addition, it will result in a disruption in the transportation of the items due to unanticipated demand.
Question 3
The choice of the facility location, inventory management, infrastructure, as well as transportation pegs on a strategy of the site that involves the operation of a highly responsive activity. The location involves the saturation of an area with many stores for easy shopping as well as easy replenishment of the inventories by their trucks. The passage of information involves a direct transmittance to the supplier and distribution point. A flexible transportation system maximizes responsiveness.
Question Four
The benefits derived from the DSD policy include the total control of the system, the reduction of the disruption of the retail outlets, as well as the freedom of the suppliers to do things in their ways of choice. Additionally, the appropriate time to implement or make use of the DSD policy is when the execution of the direct store delivery of commodities. It is most appropriate especially when the items delivered do not need bulk breaking at a DC. Additionally, the same policy is appropriate when the supplier has the consonant system with the various stores.
Question Five
The 7dream concept gives freedom to e-commerce sites, especially for them to use the 7-Eleven Stores as loading and offloading points for their customers based in Japan. Most of the customers based on research prefer the same technique of doing things and in the same nation. The method is only efficient in highly populated urban areas. Therefore, it is starting to materialize in congested regions, for example, services like the delivery of the packages. In the United States, the services can be inconvenient unless the home delivery was impossible and the only option was to pick up a package at the office of a local carrier.
Question Six
The two countries, Japan and the United States are not identical regarding the efficiency of the supply. In particular, the same differences arise from the culture as well as the corporate culture existent in the two nations. The duplication of the collective spirit in the United States, permeating the market as it is the case in Japan. Firstly, the system in the United States would have to operate two parallel systems depending on the population of the region. The cost of operating such a venture is high. However, the Japanese approach is more efficient compared to the United States and has the same strategies and operations. Additionally, it is possible to apply a hybrid system in selective markets to test the efficacy of the system in the United States.
Question Seven
Firstly, there is a reduction in the transportation cost, the cost of handling the materials will also reduce, as well as the cost of labor. Additionally, it will be easier for the distributors to perform the aggregation, with a minimum requirement for intervention by the 7-Eleven franchise. The demerits of the outsourced replenishment services are a loss of control, and the number of deliveries will significantly reduce for all stores. Additionally, the integration of information will be difficult across the disparate systems.
