Apple Baby House (ABH) started as an online business in 2009 which was only available at MSN at that time. MSN which is a web portal that provides a collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices are not widely used in the country around the time. ABH is among the earliest company that is using MSN for business purposes. The store was inspired to open from personal experience of the Director, Mr. Duncan Low's sister who is pregnantatthattime.ResidedinKedah,shefaceddifficultiesgettingherhands-onhigh-quality pregnancy and baby essentials. This has caused them to purchase quality products far from their hometown such as in Kuala Lumpur which more time consuming andcostly.

Recognizing that locals may have similar issues, Low sees this as a good opportunity tocreate a business that sells everything from pregnancy to infant necessities. Initially, selling things waschallengingduetothelackofFacebookandotheronlinechannels.Lowthensharesallthe photoswithhisclientsviawebandmessagingprogrammes.Postageismadefromhishomeat that moment. Low's bought the entire stock from his sister's acquaintance and the businesshas grown ever since. ABH now has its first store, which serves as a warehouse for pre-shipment points for consumers. With more orders, the business ultimately has enough goods for customers to go in and buy them. In June 2012, ABH moved to a two-storey warehouse with 10,000 square feet in Alor Setar due to overwhelming consumer reaction. The business grew overtimeandnowhassixmoreoutletsinKedahandPerlis,allowingLowtooverseeeachone. ABH is now the country's largest maternity and infant products centre, employing 50 locals. Allstoresareone-stopshopssellingmaternityneeds,milkformula,diapers,bath&amenities, clothes, toys, andbedding.

ABH has participated in several academy and courses to enhance and expand its business, which led to the discovery of the Business Intelligence (BI) System. BI is utilised in briefing books, reporting tools, and executive information systems. The obtained data can also provide a forecast view for the corporate operation status, which aids in decision making. For the purposed of business performance management, applications collect sales, production, financial, and other business data for business performance management, whilebenchmarking data from other organisations in the same industry is collected for comparison purposes. In 2018, ABH implemented a BI system to improve business efficiency. Thesystem collects, consolidates, and simplifies all data from each outlet. The system's direct ties to all departments, including Sales, make financial tracking easier. Cash flow tracking ensures transparency and preventsshortages.

Management can simply develop sales reports with BI, regardless of where they are. In addition, management can access the BI system immediately without going to each branch. It is more cost-effective, efficient, and avoids human error while entering sales data. ABH uses BItotrackstockavailabilityinallstores,inadditiontocashflowmanagement.ABHfeelsthe lack of an efficient method to track updated stock in each outlet is the main cause of the imbalanced product quantity. Manually counting in and out stocks in stores with thousands of ready stocks did not ensure the remaining product number was accurate. It was bought online based on demand for each outlet. Unsold products due to incorrect demand forecasts contributed to surplus warehousestocks.

By using the BI system, in any case of any shortage of goods, the system will give an alert by displaying a red word. This helps ABH to have more control of its stocks and ordered an accurate quantity of products. As all the outlets located in northern Malaysia, there a different pattern of saleable goods in each outlet. While some outlets may have a higher demand for certain products, some might be facing difficulties to sell them. Due to its unstructured data,

therearemoreoftenunsoldproductsoccupiedoneoutletwhileotheroutletsarelowinsupply. With the BI system, all the products sold, and remaining stocks are updated immediately. The newfoundsolutionhashelpedABHtoidentifywhichbranchwasshortofstockandhence,was abletodistributethesurplusstocktotheshortagebranch.Thishelpstoavoidanywastageand declining cashflow.

Havingagoodrelationshipwithsuppliersisimportanttoimproveservicestocustomersaswell as efficiency such as cost savings, minimise availability problems, delays and quality issues. Before using BI, the amount of stock received is often inconsistent with the number of orders placed. The lack of a systematic record leads to leakage in identifying stock shortages. It can be difficult to review individual stocks as it will take some time. With the BI system, working and dealing with suppliers are now more efficient. All purchased records and receipts can be viewed and recorded in the system. This helps to keep track of the number of stocks ordered with the stock received. The issue of receiving less stock is now resolvedsuccessfully.

In such a way to further appreciate loyal customers of ABH, a membership programme was introducedwithafeeofRM12yearly.Thisallowsmemberstohaveaccesstothevaluecreated by the store. Members able to be among the earliest person to know about any promotion and discounted items from email and message alert. ABH is constantly looking for better ways to understandthecustomer'stastesandtrends.Thiscanbeachievedfromthedetailedinformation in the membership programme. Once customer enrols this programme, all the consumers data are documented in the BI system. As the data allows a comprehensive view of customer behaviour, buying habits, and preferences, ABH able to customise their offerings to extract groups of customers. The data analysis obtained through the membership programme canhelp toidentifythetypeofproductthatcustomersaremostinterestedin.Itcanalsoshowcustomer's buying behaviour which can help to determine the best seller items and types of products that each branch needs. From that, ABH able to serve customers better as well as improving their stockpurchasing.

Being a favourite and trusted local maternity and baby shop, ABH receives a significant numberofwalk-incustomersdaily.Understandingthatallcustomershavedifferentneedsand preferences, ABH strategies its placement of retail products on shelves. Taking into consideration the possibility some of them might a new customer, each outlet put the most consumable products at the back of the store. This is including diapers and formula milk. This will force the customer to walk around and see other goods in the store. The positioning of a product is strategically placed to encourage customer movement throughout the store which willaffectacustomer'sbuyingpattern.Forexample,itemssuchasmilkanddiapersareplaced opposite each other and are located at the opposite end of the store. When this happens, if a customer wants to buy milk, he or she will have to go through a line of other products and inadvertently, he or she may be interested in buying anotheritem.

With a focus on enhancing customer's experience, ABH offering various ways of purchasing products and payment methods. Customers can choose to purchase online or walk-in. Those who are purchase online will also have an option to pick up the product in any outlets. Customers can also order from the store and choose to ship the product to any designated address. For example, a customer wants to send baby necessities as a gift for new-born to his relative's home in Malacca. He can make a purchase and fill out the recipient's information if the customer does not choose to order online. This makes it convenient for customers as they haveanoptiontopurchaseofflinetoonlineorviceversa.Forpaymentmethod,customerscan choose to pay by cash, Visa, Mastercard, Alipay, Boost, Grabpay or Touch n Go e-wallet. Customers are strongly encouraged to use apps that help make payments cashless. This is in line with the technological advances oftoday.

As nearly 60 percent of residents still prefer to make cash payments, ABH hopes this effort will encourage the public to adapt to the usage of digital payments applications. This will eventually respond to the government's call for technology 4.0 in everyday life. Inefficiency andpoorrecordingsystemhavebeenadrawbackforABH'sgrowth.Withtoomuchtodowith too little time, the right system is essential to ensure the business runs well. With the business modelusingtheBIsystem,ABHabletoworksmarter.Sincethesystemcancompletedifferent tasks, this has improved workforce productivity. Before the usage of the system, an employee had to carry a few responsibilities such as being a cashier, ordering products, arrange stock in the outlets, counting available stocks in the warehouse and stores. With the system, a worker only had to focus one his main job while the system will do other work for them. This has contributed to better employee performance, avoiding unclear accountabilities, save time and better understand on the scope of work they need to do daily.

ABH also developed several effective Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure the daily business operation are being carried well. The SOPs have been acting as guidelines for staff to streamline their work processes. Each morning before starting work, a briefing will be held to ensure each employee understands ABH's objectives, goals, and comply with all SOP requirements. Among the SOP's are to ensure the store in good condition, clean and products are always displayed in the designated section. Employees must also maintain good customer engagement by serving them well. Knowing that employees are the biggest assets to the company, ABH is also valuing all the staff. Various benefits allowance is offered to staff such as transportation, bonus, and international vacation trips. Additional commissions are also given to those who can get high sales. This will keep motivate employees and lead to an increase in their productivity of work.

As businesses keep growing, ABH is planning to add one more category in their existing line. The new category is targeted to women not just mothers which focusing on beauty. This categoryhasbeenchoosingbecausepurchasingpowerparityamongwomenishigherandthey are easier to make purchases compared to men. Also, as beauty is a part of the current trend has made it an appropriate choice to explore. Besides planning to open other branches allover theregion,ABHalsoisnowintheprocessofapplyingforafranchisinglicence.Thiswillallow the business to expand faster and securing its future. By franchising, ABH will be able to expandnationwide.

(Source: Strategies Business Operation through Business Intelligence System, http://bond.mpc.gov.my/bond2/download-send/1094/110/0.html)

QUESTION 1

Based on the case study above, critically appraise Duncan Low's strategy to implement Business Intelligence system in Apple Baby House. Elaborate your answers with at least 2 (TWO) points and supported with relevant examples related to case study.

QUESTION 2

Based on the case study above, analyse and critically evaluate ABH's retail layout and how it responds to consumer behaviour. Substantiate your answers with at least 2 (TWO) points and supported with relevant examples related to case study.

QUESTION 3

Using Total Quality Management concepts, critically appraise ABH's continuous improvementsonitsqualitymanagement.Elaborateyouranswers withatleast2(TWO)points and supported with appropriateexamples.

QUESTION 4

SinceABHislookingintobusinessexpansionalloverMalaysia,doyouthinkABHbeableto continue the current practise with its suppliers? Why and why not? Substantiate your answers more than 3 (Three) explanations with the rightexamples.