Case Study Summary
The case study has focused on a retailer company that aims to make its sales to customers and clients, specifically through different online means and approaches. Jimmy Beans Wool is an online retailer company located in Reno that deals with fabric and yarn sales. Being a medium-sized company, Jimmy Beans Wool has 37 employees. The company was founded in early 2002 by a couple, Laura and Doug Zander. The couple’s initial aim and the idea of coming up with the company were to deal specifically with selling yarns. Things changed when the business started growing and expanding, making sales worth $1 million. This was one of the indications of a successful and fast-growing company within the shortest period (The New York Times, 2014).in relation to the case study, the company has seen great performance and success, making a total of $7 million worth of sales by 2013.
The shape of the company’s performance curve reflects its growth and success over the past years since it was founded. This is also determined by the fact that the company has managed to grow to a multimillion retail company within the shortest time in history. Under the management of its founders’ (Laura and Doug Zander) daughter, several approaches and strategies were developed and used to ensure that the company achieved most of its goals and objectives (The New York Times, 2014). However, most of these saw a decrease in the company’s sales, raising several questions regarding specific methods and strategies.
The company’s previous success can be determined by various approaches and strategies, such as marketing and online product reviewing. Through these strategies, the company created a loyal platform that saw the company attract more customers and clients. The company’s tremendous success and growth supported some of the decisions made within the company and the strategies put in place to see the company expand (The New York Times, 2014). Jimmy Wool Retailer Company was determined and focused on becoming a globally recognized and larger brand, and as a result, the company started implementing new strategies and introducing new products. This was an approach that the company was using to expand its market quickly. One of the products that were introduced to help achieve some of the set objectives was fabric.
Other extensive expansion measures implemented by the company included expanding its space physically, developing different marketing initiatives like partnering with different companies and employing permanent employees. These measures and strategies greatly supported and facilitated the growth as well as the development of the company. This was achieved by the profits that the company obtained since its foundation. The article also identified that the company invested more in implementing strategies instead of making a profit. Most of the profits obtained from the company’s sales were used to implement these strategies and pay new employees. Clearly, the company’s founders were focusing more on selling the company’s name (Stoll & Ha-Brookshire, 2013).
Information Technologies strategies to improve Jimmy Bean’s Sales and Performance.
There are several price organizations, and businesses have to pay to expand the business because organizations and businesses will have to obtain the right and required budget. Therefore this paper will discuss some of the ideal technologies that will effectively help address the challenges that are faced by the organization.
Social media marketing
With the continuous increase and rise in companies and organizations inclining and embracing the use and application of the internet, these organizations are forced to invest in different social media marketing strategies (Stoll & Ha-Brookshire, 2013). In a company like Jimmy Beans, its initial success and growth were based on having and developing a social media presence. This was achieved through a YouTube video review. Social media is considered the fastest, less expensive, and easy approach compared to hiring professional marketing experts or employees (The New York Times, 2014). Different social media marketing strategies such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, offer a large marketing platform that the company can use to reevaluate its marketing strategies, allowing it to invest back on product reviewing, marketing, and brand promotion through the implementation of social media.
Mobile App Technology
In order for the company to successfully experience success and enjoy maximum profits, it will have to develop a mobile application. The mobile app is set to enable the company to manage and maintain its relationship with customers. This means that through the mobile application, the company will keep in touch with its new and regular customers. The other use of the mobile app will be to get direct feedback from clients and customers. The company will implement this strategy through tablets and smartphones (Wharton, Johnston, Cunningham & Sterner, 2014).
Data analytics tools
It will have to implement and use different data analytics tools to experience success and enjoy the maximum profit. The use of such tools (data analytics tools) will allow the company to generate valuable and meaningful insights. This strategy’s success and effectiveness are based on the importance and benefits of effective data analysis in an organization. The most attractive part of this strategy is that the company will have a wide range of data analytic tools to choose from.