Elevating Cafe Latteria: Navigating E-Commerce for Non-Profit Success in Auckland - Free Paper Sample

1: Introduction

Cafe Latteria is a coffee shop based in Auckland New Zealand within the premises of an academic institution. The company's objective is not to make a profit but to provide subsidized meals for students and staff.

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1.1: Purpose of Writing the Report

The primary objective of this report is to explore e-business requirements for Café Latteria and look at the changes it can bring to the company.

1.2: Objectives of the Report

The objective of the report is to conduct an inquiry into how e-commerce can be implemented in the organization. It further focuses on the gains that will be accrued if e-commerce is implemented in the company. There are also barriers that may affect the adoption of e-commerce in the organization

1.3: Methodology used to write the Report

The major source of information for this report was a direct interview with the individual in charge of the Coffee Latte. The importance of this mode of research is that we were able to ask questions and receive answers and clarifications immediately. Further information on the report was found by analyzing peer-reviewed articles and books. This mode of research does not consume time and the information is readily available in the library. The two methods were also valid as firstly we got firsthand information and reliable information from peer-reviewed articles.

1.4: The Structure of the Report

The report has eleven sections with the first being the introductory part which contains four subsections namely; the purpose, objective, and methodology of writing the report. The second part dwells on the background of the organization. The third part explores the goals while the fourth highlights the current business processes of the organization. Furthermore, the fifth part underlines the current technological infrastructure available in the Coffee Latte shop. In addition, the sixth part focuses on what the business requires to run efficiently. The seventh part features the potential Value of e-business that will add to the Organization. Moreover, the eighth part shows the solutions that will be brought forward by using e-commerce. The ninth explores the potential barriers that might arise while the tenth has the conclusion drawn in the report. Lastly, there is the reference part which highlights the reference materials that were used in the making of the report.

2: Organizational Background

The cafe Latteria shop is situated within the campus in Auckland New Zealand and only serves students and staff. It does not serve the general public due to security reasons. It is not a profit-making business and thus their prices are low compared to other eateries outside the campus. As such they strive to break even and not make profits, it is more of a student support service. The company advertises mainly on the door of its premises and does not have a strong social media presence. The organization is under the institution as such does not have a budget for advertisement.

3: Organizational Goals

The goal of the shop is to provide students and staff with meals as a support service at competitive prices. As such, students and staff can spend most of their time learning than going outside the campus to look for other services. Thus their goal is to be an eatery of choice for all students and staff.

4: Current Business Processes

Currently, the fact that their main market is just students and staff the management may decide not to adopt e-commerce. Secondly, they do not have an advertising budget which might hinder them from exploiting e-commerce. Thirdly, the Café orders supplies on a weekly basis. They further used to order food from outside but they are now making theirs. The fact that they do not have an electronic inventory system to monitor the flow of goods creates a perfect opportunity to employ e-commerce. They have not fully functionaled social media presence which can be used to improve the sales of the Coffee Latte shop.

5: Current Technological Infrastructure

Café Latteria has an F-POS machine which is the E-trading. E-trading is a point-of-sale software. When it comes to tracking inventory it is done manually every week.

6: Business Requirements

The fact that inventory is controlled manually necessitates the Café Latteria to acquire an electronic inventory system. An electronic inventory system will play a key role in managing supplies at the shop stores. With just a click of a button, the management will know which supplies are required. The management can also know the fast and slow-moving products in the shop. This is pivotal in reducing wastage and over-ordering of products with lower shelf life. To cut costs they can integrate their point of sale system with an online payment provider and this will ease the tracking of funds. They also need an active social media presence that can update the students on the current menu and prices. This channel can also be used to get feedback from the customers so that their services can improve.

7: Potential Value of e-Business to the Organization

One of the primary importance of e-business to the organization is that it will lower the cost of running it (Meier, 2017)). The initial investment might be high but in the long run, the organization is bound to lower its cost. Rather than having a third party handle their payments, Café Latteria can integrate its point of sale software with systems such as Shopify which will ease payment. For accounting purposes, its finances will be separated from the institution.

Secondly, it will improve the customer experience as it is more efficient and effective (Tunowski, 2015). Students and staff can order and pay for their food online. They do not need liquid cash as they can pay online. They can also get to know what the day special meal is being served. The aim of any business even a non-profit organization is to offer quality services to its customers. Customers want to get value for their money and e-business if well integrated to the company will do exactly that. Students and staff can order food and beverages at the comfort of their hostels.

Thirdly, the customers are significant to Café Latteria, and through e-commerce, their needs and views can be well incorporated into the business model (Pride, 2017). Such information on social media platforms can be used to generate new menus and delicacies to the customer's taste. Elements such as the buying trends of customers can also be easily analyzed to the advantage of the organization (Kyeremeh & Dza, 2018). The Cafe Latteria shop can also with the click of a button know the fast and slow-moving products and act accordingly. With this information, the organization can now practice target marketing as they clearly know what their customers prefer.

Lastly, e-commerce will ensure the company stays competitive (Kotler, 2020). As much as the company is a non-profit it will not break even if students and staff decide to go and shop in other stores. Despite the fact that their cost is subsidized the customer still wants value for their money.

8: Potential e-Business Solutions to the Organization

Firstly, the company tracks its supply manually and then decides which products to order. An example of software that they can use is Ezemobile which will help them in tracking the products. The software will alert the management when the supply reaches a certain level. This way there will be no time stock has been fully utilized without being replenished.

Efficiency is paramount for an organization to operate optimally (Garbarski, 2015). The time and resources wasted in the counting of the products with e-commerce can be done with a click of a button. The software that can be used for this purpose is Eze Mobile. They can further use Shopify to connect their point of sale with a bank. Thus the human and financial resources involved with the activity can be re-directed to other departments in the organization to enhance efficiency.

Getting feedback from customers is important more so in the service industry. E-commerce will help a lot in this area. Such a medium is social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Its customer’s feedback corrects where there is an oversight on the part of the companies’ services. By addressing customer feedback the company creates customer loyalty which is an intangible asset to the organization. Even when a company is going through a tough economic period it is the loyal customers who come to its aid.

9: Potential Risks and Barriers of e-Business Adoption for the Organization

When adopting a new information technology there are bound to be hurdles in its implementation. One of the major challenges is the unavailability of technical know-how in the organization (Saleh, 2016). For instance, the knowledge to integrate the software with company operations. It is also hard to find ready-to-use information technology.

Privacy and security are other key barrier for the company to consent to set up an e-business (Turban, et al., 2017). Many organizations do not want to share their financial data with a third party as such may be reluctant to set up information technology. When setting up an information technology that uses the internet one of the key areas that companies are worried about the most is the threat of hacking. It is pivotal for a company to have a strong firewall to prevent data breaches which can be costly. Thus rather than risking their data they use a local area network to share information.

Lack of awareness on how to utilize the system by employees is another factor why the adoption might fail. The fear of any new technology is normal in any organization. New technology can make some jobs and departments redundant (Turban, et al., 2017). While others are so used to the manual way to embrace technology. Before the introduction of new information technology, it is key for all the members of the organization to be involved in its introduction up to the implementation. The management should emphasize that the objective of the system is to improve efficiency and not to lay off workers. When all these measures are taken into consideration the employees will strive to work with e-commerce.

Cost is also another factor that can impede the adoption of e-commerce. Coffee Latte serves students, and staff only (Saleh, 2016). Their major objective is not to make a profit as the rates they charge are subsidized. As such, they can decide not to venture a lot into information technology as long as the end of a fiscal period they manage to break even. The company can also lack the required funds to institute e-commerce. Such costs can include the installation, maintenance, and training of employee fees. Thus, the company after doing a cost-benefit analysis can decide to keep its current processes going.

10: Conclusions

In as much as Coffee Latte is not a profit-making shop, it should embrace e-commerce. Failure to do so, the company will have problems even to break even as students and staff will go to eat outside the campus. Customers no matter their circumstances want value for their money and e-commerce plays a big role in adding value to the services of an organization. By having lean management mixed with e-commerce the Coffee Latte can cut down on its expenses and ensure rather than making a loss it breaks even. For a start, they urgently need an electronic inventory system. The automated system will ensure products are tracked accurately without any mistakes. This will ultimately ensure wastage is minimized within the organization. The initial cost of e-commerce can be much but the accrued benefits, in the long run, are even better. The company should have an e-business strategy they are pursuing if the adoption is to be successful.