Albertons seem to put significant amounts of money into the support activities especialy the Technology Developement which make at the begining will shorten the profit margin, though in a longer run it will surely improve the operating cost of the procurement department as well as the primary activities including Inboud Logistics and service.They do not use any Outbound logistics while it could help them i their stratergy due to much greater experince of outbound logistics comapnies.The company though doesn`t seem to put a lot of effort into the the marketing department, as it`s trying to reduce their cost and attract customers by placing the shops in the city centers.
The information system plays a very important role in Albertsons business, because the all business is going to base on usage of computerized system including shopping lists make at home, syncing up the lists with store inventory and giving information for the suppliers information when their goods are close to the bottom amount. Thanks of that system Company can reduce number of employees, what can cause savings of about $100 million.
Comparing to Wal-Mart, Albertsons will try to move ahead using more technology each day, right now they try to be at the same level using RFID system, and they got plans to provide the cashier free system of shopping, where the products will be scanned through special gate and the payment will be make via credit card. Right now, Wal-Mart has got better results of sales, and has got steady growth, while Albertsons now is reducing costs, instead of trying achieving better margin of each dollar. In that field Wal-Mart has got really better results, so I think in future the Wal-Mart will have better results, and Albertsons will try to catch up with his rival.
The main problem that hinders the Company is connected with introducing new technology, that cause a lot of confusion within personnel and customers.