abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is a Fortune 500 retail corporation with annual revenues well over $4 billion. Its department stores focus mainly on selling closeout and overstock merchandise. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio, USA and currently operates over 1,400 stores in 47 states.
A typical store sells a wide variety of merchandise, including toys, furniture, clothing, housewares, and small electronics. Most of the items sold in these stores are purchased as they become available. What is in the store one day may not be there the next, and the store may not get further shipments of those particular items. Most of the merchandise in the stores are closeouts and overstocks. However there are some items in the stores, such as foodstuffs, that are replenished on a continual basis.
In many cases, Big Lots uses an existing building, such as a grocery or department store that had either moved or ceased operations.
Ø GPS limitation
eCourier uses a routing system that maps available couriers against their location and the constraint of its client’s time limitations, namely what would be viewed as an acceptable delivery window. eCourier’s drivers have been issued with palmtop computers that use the global positioning system (GPS) to record delivery locations and delivery status every 10 seconds.
However, GPS has limitations. In London, it is extremely rare to get a signal from seven or eight satellites, which is the benchmark for a really good signal.
There is also interference from tall buildings, and the signal isn’t powerful enough to be used indoors or under cover.
Accuracy is also a problem, even though eCourier uses hardware based around the latest GPS device standard, SURF3.
Opportunities
Ø Expansion to Manchester and Coventry
With the rapid growth of eCourier, opportunities of expansion are viable for the company in the recent position of the company in the marketplace.
Ø Enduring commercial advantages to eCourier’s operations that help explain why it has found raising investment relatively easy.
Ø Rise in oils prices
With the nature of courier industry, eCourier depends on mobility. Oil prices increase becomes a threat to them since it would incur them additional costs.
Ø Environmental legislation on gas emission
A typical store sells a wide variety of merchandise, including toys, furniture, clothing, housewares, and small electronics. Most of the items sold in these stores are purchased as they become available. What is in the store one day may not be there the next, and the store may not get further shipments of those particular items. Most of the merchandise in the stores are closeouts and overstocks. However there are some items in the stores, such as foodstuffs, that are replenished on a continual basis.
In many cases, Big Lots uses an existing building, such as a grocery or department store that had either moved or ceased operations.
Ø GPS limitation
eCourier uses a routing system that maps available couriers against their location and the constraint of its client’s time limitations, namely what would be viewed as an acceptable delivery window. eCourier’s drivers have been issued with palmtop computers that use the global positioning system (GPS) to record delivery locations and delivery status every 10 seconds.
However, GPS has limitations. In London, it is extremely rare to get a signal from seven or eight satellites, which is the benchmark for a really good signal.
There is also interference from tall buildings, and the signal isn’t powerful enough to be used indoors or under cover.
Accuracy is also a problem, even though eCourier uses hardware based around the latest GPS device standard, SURF3.
Opportunities
Ø Expansion to Manchester and Coventry
With the rapid growth of eCourier, opportunities of expansion are viable for the company in the recent position of the company in the marketplace.
Ø Enduring commercial advantages to eCourier’s operations that help explain why it has found raising investment relatively easy.
Ø Rise in oils prices
With the nature of courier industry, eCourier depends on mobility. Oil prices increase becomes a threat to them since it would incur them additional costs.
Ø Environmental legislation on gas emission