Critical Review of YOOX (Article Sample)

CRITICAL REVIEW OF YOOX
INTRODUCTION
Critical appraisal is defined as evaluating literature systematically and methodologically to ascertain its reliability and significance in its context of use (Hong and Pluye, 2019). Insofar, it's regarded as a crucial and integral process for evidence-based practice since it helps company decision-makers to use evidence to inform their decisions that must be considered satisfactory. Over the past few years, the fashion industry has grown to highly marketable standards attracting many investors. This has drawn a lot of competition that demands carefully designed business processes owing to this current knowledge-based economy that has changed modern entrepreneurship.
REVIEW OF YOOX.COM
Introduction
YOOX is an e-commerce platform that is currently positioned as the global leader in online luxury retail. As of October 2015, the global companies YOOX Group and Net-a-Porter Group merged to form a new global company labeled as YOOX-Net-a-Porter Group (DNA | YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP, 2021). The two-parent companies have been in the market since 2000 and have been strategically focused on fashion, art, and design. Currently headquartered in Milan, Italy, YOOX has other offices across 180 countries, including China, United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
Unique Significance
Unlike its competitors, YOOX carefully selects luxury retail stores globally to accord customers a unique customer brand diversity. The website displays luxurious pieces of most known fashion designers of the luxury brands such as Stella McCartney, Emilio Pucci, Lanvin, Marni, Gucci, Balenciaga, Chloe, Moschino, Moncler, Alexander McQueen, and Saint Laurent, among others.
Source: yoox.com Accessed March 15, 2021
The company provides a luxury e-commerce platform with personalized end-to-end service with an insightful modern shopper experience. The luxury webpage act as an essential point of contact for the customers and the luxury fashion brands online. The website's design and customization positively influence the shopper's perception of its luxury products' uniqueness. The most significant web page components that give clientele a unique and customized experience include the payment methods, currency, language, communication, and product information display. For instance, it provides the customers the opportunities to choose their preferred language on the main homepage. Alternatively, when a customer chooses their country, the web page automatically translates the specific country's language. The latter is also for currency, where the most used are Euros and US Dollar. For communication, the webpage's frequently asked questions (FAQs) section enables opportunities for new and old clients to engage with the website through questions that might guide informed purchase decisions, including refund system, shipping and refund policies, purchase payment, and any technical help.
Weakness
A notable challenge is the sizing system of the cloth. This presents a challenge since the sizing of cloth differs in different countries. Some designers are ignorant of the most common size ranges from small (XS) to extra-large (XL). It has been a weakness, but the website has tried to present the above in four global size scales: US, Italy, French, and the UK. Another notable weakness would be the lack of direct engagement and interaction between the seller and customers, given that the company presents its business in electronic or e-commerce mode. It could be an issue of consideration, especially for luxury fashion consumers, as Punyatoya (2019) notes that the inability to feel or touch the product may hinder establishing trust between seller and customers. Besides, the webpage also does not support a contact system among customers. This attributes to a lack of communication and sharing experience among the customer base, which presumably amounts to insufficient user experience satisfaction.
Web Payment System
As for the YOOX payment system, the company provides an array of payment methods with additional security to protect each transaction. The web pay system gives customers the possibility of paying with any credit card. The Credit Card includes Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, where the customer will be charged when the order is shipped. For the PayPal option, customers are charged when the order is completed and is available for customers from Hong Kong, Australia, China, and Singapore. In securing the clientele shopping experience, the web page has created a different system called Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to protect and encrypt information sent over the internet by clients. Fundamentally, more security is guaranteed since the company is registered with cyber trust to keep customers' private data when data is transitioned from the web server and web browser.
Source: yoox.com Accessed March 15, 2021
YOOX Business Logistics and Processes
YOOX positions itself as a top "internet retailing partner" for global fashion and luxury brands. The company has aligned its operating and business models to create effective business logistics processes, allowing it to access a broader range of brand categories and top art and design architectures of collections to give clients a connoisseur feeling. On its operating model, an established relationship with suppliers plays a vital role in easy access to products for its multi-brand e-commerce platforms. Again, on the geographic scale, the company continuously strengthen its efficient management of local inventories. It also keeps proximity with its consumers through same-day delivery, multiple customer languages to give clientele a more excellent shopping experience, boosted by its current Artificial intelligence technology incorporated into its inventory system. Logistically, YOOX has automated its warehouses and segmented its inventory with RFID seal technology deployment, significantly reducing warehouse costs and boosting customer service capabilities (Yoox: The Internet of Luxury - Technology and Operations Management, 2021).
Source: yoox.com Accessed March 2021
Nevertheless, flexibility and continuous improvement are part of the company's culture, displaying original prices and markdown prices to accord customers' transparency on pricing. Again, its back-end operations of pricing are data-driven. It enables it to generate data on sales and customers preference, thus significantly better understanding consumers and predicting market trends (Selling Luxury Online – Yoox Net-A-Porter - Technology and Operations Management, 2021). As a result, they have to earn value for themselves and the customers, and their designers. YOOX has also leveraged its operational and technical capabilities to run the online storefronts for multiple fashion houses. The latter attribute to its online flagship business. It consigns current seasoned cloth items and handles their customization, shipping, logistics, returns, and customer servicing to gain a 30 percent commission. This has been vital in mitigating the low margin and inventory risks.
Source: yoox.com Accessed March 15, 2021
WEBSITE OBLIGATION
Although this website collects data from the users, the Data Protection Act 2008 demands that the consumer data be used only for specific intended purposes. This provision affirms that customer data is protected, and the business must ensure that the collected information is used legally. The YOOX webpage uses varied technologies to collect customer data. However, cookies are the most common system, where the website server perceives an input based on the pages accessed by the clients and their clicks. The common types of cookies within the website include advertising cookies, analytical and experience testing cookies, and functional cookies.
Corporate responsibility is currently a significant part of business strategy that helps a company adhere to respectful business codes and practices that harm anyone. The company has put strategies of becoming greener and more circular as part of becoming responsible. Therefore, the group has embodied itself on the infinity philosophy that strives to upscale a long-lasting luxury fashion with a long-lasting positive impact on the ecosystem. To achieve infinity, the organization has embarked on ethical craftsmanship that designs the products on lasting standards that can be re-made. The company has gone further to connect its ambitious infinity strategy with the Sustainable Development Goals inclusive equitable quality education and learning opportunities for all, enhanced gender equality and empowerment for women; accessibility to affordable, sustainable, and reliable energy; and enhanced inclusive, sustainable economic growth and productive and decent employment opportunities for all. Accordingly, YOOX infinity drive will leverage the company's data and its technology to initiate a comprehensive sustainable journey to serve the interests of its responsible pillars of circular business, circular culture, planet positive, and people positive.
Regarding customer posts, the company platform provides options for clients to comment on their feedback and recommendations. This is another great feature of corporate responsibility since it allows the consumers to share their feedback and express their experience with the product. This attribute to consumer freedom of expression since the clients can share their opinions. Notably, with an online presence, an e-commerce business faces a great deal of responsibility for its consumer and society at large. This strategically aligns with its transparent mission, vision and goals, and brand identity that influences its public acceptance. The company has driv...