Draft Report

NAME- HARSH BARDHAN SINGH

ROLL NUMBER- 21202083

INTERN DESIGNATION- SUMMER MARKETING INTERN

COMPANY- INCISIV.INC

NAME OF CORPORATE GUIDE- ANEESHA AHUJA

DESIGNATION OF CORPORATE GUIDE- SENIOR ANALYST

COMPANY- INCISIV.INC

NAME OF THE FACULTY MENTOR- PROF. SUGATO TRIPATHY

DESIGNATION OF THE FACULTY MENTOR- FACULTY OF

MARKETING

KIIT SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

 Contents
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Objectives
4. Methodology
5. Results & Findings
6. Discussion & Conclusions
7. Learnings
8. Conclusion
DIGITAL MATURITY BENCHMARKING

Introduction
The primary objective of my research was to work on the financials of Restaurants, Pet-products,
C-store, and the Apparel Industry. Then in Benchmarking, I did the attribute comparison of the
Industries that were provided to me. I also did Secondary research on Gift cards, Grocery trends,
and Insurance companies (all were in the USA).

During my secondary research and financial search works, l learned that COVID-19 has created
a mass difference in sales in the Apparel industry and Pet-Products whereas in Grocery
companies and Insurance as well Food Industry.

What I also learned is Benchmarking in business means measuring your company’s quality,
performance and growth by analyzing the processes and procedures of others. If you believe
there’s something that can be improved within your organization, you can see how your business
stacks up against the “standard” and plan out a path for betterment, whether that means cutting
costs, boosting efficiency and productivity, or growing revenue.

The ultimate goal of benchmarking is continuous improvement, something all businesses should
aim for. Comparing your business to others can help you generate ideas that you can adopt to get
ahead.

Types of business benchmarking.

There are 3 types of benchmarking:- i.e.

 Internal
 Competitive
 Strategic
LITERATURE REVIEW

List of materials reviewed:

Sl. Details of the materials such as research articles, book chapters, case studies, etc.
No.
1 Title: Benchmarking of Innovation Capability in the Digital Industry
Journal/ Book: Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 65 (2012) 948 – 954
Author(s): Togar M. Simatupang, Fransisca Budyanto Widjaja
Year: 2012
Volume (Issue): Volume 65
Pages: 1-7

2 Title: Process benchmarking as a market research tool for strategic planning

Journal/ Book: Marketing Intelligence & Planning ISSN: 0263-4503
Author(s): Deborah Ralston, April Wright, Jaynendra Kumar
Year: 1 July 2001
Volume (Issue): Volume 19 Issue 4

3 Title: The use and effectiveness of benchmarking in SMEs

Journal/ Book: Benchmarking: An International Journal ISSN: 1463-5771
Author(s): Catherine Cassell, Sara Nadin, Melanie Older Gray
Year: 1 August 2001
Volume (Issue): Volume 8 Issue 3

4 Title: Integrated benchmarking: a holistic examination of select techniques for

benchmarking analysis
Journal/ Book: Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology ISSN: 1351-
3036
Author(s): Pervaiz K. Ahmed, Mohammed Rafiq
Year: 1 September 1998
Volume (Issue): Volume 5 Issue 3
5 Title: Bench-Grafting: a model for successful implementation of the conclusions of
benchmarking studies
Journal/ Book: Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology ISSN: 1351-
3036
Author(s): Brian S. Codling
Year: 1 September 1998
Volume (Issue): Volume 5 Issue 3

6 Title: Benchmarking manufacturing performance in Australia and New Zealand

Journal/ Book: Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology ISSN: 1351-
3036
Author(s): Lawrence M. Corbett
Year: 1 December 1998
Volume (Issue): Volume 5 Issue 4

7 Title: Benchmarking supply chain operations

Journal/ Book: Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology ISSN: 1351-
3036
Author(s): Peter Gilmour
Year: 1 December 1998
Volume (Issue): Volume 5 Issue 4

8 Title: Digital Maturity of Retail Enterprises in Ukraine: Technology of Definition and

Directions of Improvement
Journal/ Book: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing book series
Author(s): Nadiia Proskurnina, Mikolaj Karpinski, Olena Rayevnyeva & Roman
Kochan
Year: 14 September 2021
Volume (Issue): LNBIP, Volume 429

9 Title: Benchmarking of digital maturity models according to the dimension

component
Journal/ Book: 2022 2nd International Conference on Innovative Research in Applied
Science, Engineering and Technology (IRASET)
Author(s): Abdoulaye Sadio Barry, Saliha Assoul, Nissrine Souissi
Year: 25 March 2022
 10 Title: Benchmarking Retail Productivity Considering Retail Pricing and Format
Strategy
Journal/ Book: Journal of Retailing
Author(s): Dinesh K.Gauri
Year: March 2013
Volume (Issue): Volume 89, Issue 1
Pages: Pages 1-14

Benchmarking of Innovation Capability in the Digital Industry

This article uses dynamic capacity theory to better understand the Indonesian creative digital
content industry's innovation methods. Five Indonesian digital content companies were
interviewed face to face to demonstrate that their innovation capability includes the ability to
acquire and develop ideas into commercial products before they are released to the market. It has
been discovered that the ability to innovate is mostly determined by the quality of people
resources who can learn on the job and keep up with changing technological trends. Their
organizational structures are not overly rigid to avoid the complicated bureaucracy that can stifle
creativity. This research is one of the first to apply the dynamic capability approach to
understanding Indonesian creative digital content innovation capabilities.

Process benchmarking as a market research tool for strategic planning

Process benchmarking partnerships are gaining traction as a research tool for small businesses
looking to obtain a competitive edge over larger competitors. Managers are starting to see the
need of benchmarking the strategically important processes in their value chain. The first step in
process benchmarking is to conduct exploratory qualitative research to identify the fundamental
processes that will be benchmarked. The next step is quantitative research, which involves
collecting the expenses of core processes from benchmark partners on a standardized computer
spreadsheet using an audit procedure. In each core process, each partner receives the results of a
statistical study that compares the firm's cost structure to the average of the benchmark partners.
Then, by removing surplus capacity, outsourcing, and altering existing processes, strategic
planning decisions can be made regarding how to provide more customer value. This article
discusses a process benchmarking collaboration amongst four Australian building societies to
demonstrate the strategic value of this research approach for businesses in the new millennium.
The use and effectiveness of benchmarking in SMEs
The purpose of this article is to examine current benchmarking practices in small and medium-
sized businesses (SMEs) and to determine the demand for this practice. A multimethod approach
was used, with a telephone survey of 100 businesses complemented with in-depth interviews
with another 22 businesses, resulting in qualitative data that probed the topics in greater depth.
Financial performance, customer happiness, and product/service quality were the most
commonly utilized benchmarking indicators. Human resource type measure benchmarking was
inconsistent and fragmented. Where benchmarking was employed, it was shown to be quite
beneficial across all of the measures examined, despite companies not adopting it and expressing
little interest in doing so. As a result, while organizations are reticent to use benchmarking data
when they do, the results are positive. The reasons behind this apprehension, as well as typical
usage trends, are investigated.

Integrated benchmarking: a holistic examination of select techniques for

benchmarking analysis
The fact that benchmarking has become a popular management technique is mentioned. Also
emphasizes that benchmarking is a developing idea, providing a brief historical account of
Benchmarking's evolution and highlighting that it is transitioning from an art to a science. Gives
a detailed explanation of the many forms of benchmarking and examines the benchmarking
process and various methodologies, claiming that an integrated approach is required.

Bench-Grafting: a model for successful implementation of the conclusions of

benchmarking studies
Many benchmarking studies discover process improvements, but they rarely result in meaningful
learning or knowledge transfer. This article presents the concept of "bench-Grafting" as a
methodology for managers to use in achieving successful benchmarking project results.
Examines the concept of bench grafting in the context of institutional theory, recognizing the
significance of the social and cultural milieu. Reports on a desk study conducted as a pilot
exercise in benchmark between two mobility firms.

Benchmarking manufacturing performance in Australia and New Zealand

This article examines the levels of performance and progress rates in a variety of manufacturing
performance indicators obtained by typical manufacturers around the world, followed by a
discussion of how well Australian and New Zealand companies fare in comparison to their
competitors. That competition is a representative sample of businesses, maybe more so than
some of the illustrations frequently cited in management literature. The findings are based on the
findings of the Global Manufacturing Futures Survey conducted in 1996. The data is categorized
into two groups: by country or region and by industry. In various areas, mainly quality,
inventory, and service quality, Australian and New Zealand manufacturers may still improve.
The difference between the best and worst in the industry comparisons is remarkable.

Benchmarking supply chain operations

Several major research studies have focused on the qualities of an excellent supply chain in the
last decade or so. The focus of these investigations has changed from operational to strategic
factors. Supply chain management has also evolved to encompass both operational and strategic
problems. A framework was designed and tested with ten consumer goods and vehicle industries
to evaluate both the operational and strategic efficacy of the supply chain. Consumer goods
companies were determined to have a lot of space to improve their logistical operations.
However, none of them had a logistical strategy in place to facilitate the transition. Automotive
businesses, on the other hand, had more sophisticated logistics operations and planned to develop
them even more in the coming two years. The framework proposed in this paper is a valuable
benchmark for focusing on change projects to improve the corporate supply chain's operational
and strategic capabilities.

Digital Maturity of Retail Enterprises in Ukraine: Technology of Definition

and Directions of Improvement
Because digital transformation procedures in the domestic retail industry have been delayed,
there has been a major lag behind global trends in terms of digitization. Modern conditions and
new problems, on the other hand, have accelerated retail's digital transformation processes. The
development of online sales and communication channels, as well as the digitalization of tools
for interacting with market entities, has become a top priority, necessitating the creation of a new
practical rationale and recommendations for determining the degree of digital maturity of retail
businesses. The goal of this article is to design technology for measuring a trading enterprise's
level of digital maturity using a digital maturity matrix and an assessment of their digital
infrastructure, digital abilities, and digital activities. The state of digitalization of the home
economy was analyzed for the period 2017–2019 in the context of the specified directions. The
technology for evaluating the level of digital maturity of the retail enterprise is validated to prove
the empirical and methodological hypothesis. This foundation is a combination of approaches
and technologies that identify the reasons for digitalization processes lagging behind market
demands. The method of expert evaluations, the method of systematization, and the graphical
approach were utilized to visualize data and study results during the research. The correlation of
certain importance ranks with the level of digital activity of retail marketing activities allowed
for the creation of a matrix for determining the level of digital maturity, which allows for the
establishment of the level and identification of the state of digitalization of retail marketing
activities. According to the results of the digital maturity assessment, a website as a sales channel
and e-commerce, social media as communication channels, and the availability of high-speed
broadband Internet access have the highest priority.

Benchmarking of digital maturity models according to the dimension

component
Any digital transformation effort must begin with a digital maturity evaluation. The evaluation
enables public and commercial companies to determine their existing levels of digital maturity
and determine where to begin their digital transformation initiatives. We conducted a qualitative
and quantitative analysis of 30 digital maturity models identified in the literature to determine the
dimensions of an ontological model derived from the literature, which proposes 9 knowledge
domains and 18 sub-domains that should be considered in any digital transformation project.
These analyses allowed us to check whether the knowledge domains proposed in the ontological
model protected all of the dimensions of the 30 models studied and that they also enabled us to
determine the degree of usability of these knowledge domains by using the digital maturity
models identified in the literature.

Benchmarking Retail Productivity Considering Retail Pricing and Format

Strategy
With rising competition in the grocery retailing industry, managers are more interested in
comparing the productivity of their chain's stores to that of other similar stores. Using the
stochastic frontier (SF) methodology, we quantify and compare the inefficiencies of major
grocery shops across various formats and pricing methods in this research. We discovered that
the average inefficiency was roughly 28.59 percent using a unique dataset encompassing 2500
stores across 50 chains. The least inefficient chains were determined to be Kroger and Wal-Mart,
with inefficiencies of 2.18 percent and 3.06 percent, respectively. In terms of cost strategy,
EDLP and hybrid stores outperform HiLo stores in terms of weekly sales, whereas supercenters
outperform supermarkets and limited-assortment stores in terms of format strategy. We also
discovered that retailers might decrease the proportion of inputs such as selling area, number of
checkout counters, number of people, and store features without compromising outcomes using
SF analysis (i.e., by holding the output level constant).
Conclusion
After reading all the Articles present above I understood why benchmarking is necessary and
how it helps keep each company growing and find where they lack, it helps in analyzing the
problems from the core and what the industry needs to introduce for staying successful in the
market with completing all public demands. This is also a kind of data research that all company
does to get its comparison from the other company in the same industry just for example we can
take from the few companies I have been working for they collect data from attributes that lets
them know about what they need to introduce companies like Albertsons, Kroger, Amazon,
Costco and BJ’S Wholesale does this kind of market research and digital Benchmarking.
Benchmarking recently helped in the Pandemic condition for the facility comparison from
company to company. And so on.

References

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281205210X
 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EUM0000000005558/full/html
 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EUM0000000005624/full/html
 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14635779810234802/full/html
 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14635779810226180/full/html
 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14635779810245134/full/html
 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14635779810245143/full/html
 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-85893-3_1
 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9737781

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022435912000711
Introduction
Company Name- Incisiv

Work of the company- Digital Transformation Insights for Consumer Industries

Logo-

About the company

Founded in 2016 Incisiv is One of the Leading Insights Firms for Consumer Industry Digital
Transformation Leaders. With a Company size of 11-50 employees and Headquartered in West
New York, New Jersey.
It has 7,500+ senior executives participate in and rely on Incisiv’s annual agenda of curated
insights and experiences. 50+ clients across the consumer and technology industry value chain
trust Incisiv to define and refine transformation.
What the company does is:
1. Curated Executive Learning
Learning experiences that inspire and energize digital leaders.
2. Market Perspectives
Insights and perspectives that help navigate key digital transformation themes.
3. Digital Maturity Benchmarking
Digital maturity benchmarks and best practices for specific industries and companies.
4. Strategic Programs
Digital maturity benchmarks and best practices for specific industries and companies.
[Webpage- https://www.incisiv.com/ ]

Service/Solution Offerings
The company provides different services to two different firms

 Services for technology firms

 Services for consumer industry firms

Services for Technology Firms

  Calendared Reports: It includes annual industry reports on the most important issues
faced by brands, retailers, and restaurants.
 Industry Research & Thought Leadership: Includes Credible, Compelling, third-party
perspective on custom themes created in collaboration with the clients.
 Insights Concierge: It is a subscription program to accelerate and provide consistency
in content development.

Services for Industry Benchmark

 Insights Concierge: In this Company curates insights built around the required highest
interest industries, functions, and technologies.
 Custom Reports: It contains the deep-drive business and technology insights that
answer the tough questions through actionable recommendations.

 The services also include Digital Roundtable which is a virtual forum to gain executive
insight and build a stronger-relationships. That is
o Speakeasy- It is a high-energy burst of learning and networking in a dinner
+ panel environment.
o UnConference- It is a Pop-Up innovation that showcases across the store,
restaurant, and HQ environments.
 Finally, in Digital Maturity Benchmarking also here two kinds
o Industry Benchmark: It includes Data insights and reports that track digital
maturity at an industry and sub-industry level.
o Company benchmark: It contains detailed data, analysis, and
recommendations for the company’s digital maturity.

Work in the Company

As my work is for digital benchmarking, it also included multiple projects, my work is only
limited to the USA and its states as I have been assigned to the region, I have completed 2
projects and 3rd one is ongoing I will divide it into 3 parts and describe the work done.

Part 1 (Project -1 Attributes, user experience, and Financial collection)

 Working on company site user experience and company’s user experience in form of the
customer perspective. In this, we were provided with user Experience attributes that
needed to be checked if it is available or not. Another work in this project included
collecting revenue for 2019 to 2021 from the given Industry mentioning the company
provided. Industry Included Pet products, C-Store, Restaurant, Apparels. All for USA
Region.

Part 2 (Secondary research on assigned trends and specific grocery companies)

It was based on total secondary research on how the gift card trend is in the USA and also
the Insurance trend in the country too.
Moreover, next was how the Companies like Target, Kroger, and Albertson are creating
supermarket and grocery trends for customers to their stores.

Part 3 (Quarterly data creation and Digital timeline)

In this, we are assigned to create Quarterly performance reports for the assigned
companies, and their digital timeline in which we compare their data from the past year’s
data and compare what are the benefits of the digital up-gradation from the companies.
Benefits only included the revenue change after implementing any digital upgrades or
services.

Objectives
Project Topic – Digital transformation of the Grocery Industry before and after Covid-19

Work in the Project – Digital transformation and comparison between before and after Covid-19
revenue with applying the digital transformations and services by the company.

Explanation Regarding Project

I was assigned the industry and its key players all I have to do was to create a quarterly financial
sheet that gave me an insight into their revenue before and after the assigned year and it helped
me to compare the data easily. I used the measuring parameter as the digital transformations
done by the companies in this industry. Key players were Kroger, Ocado, Sainsbury, Albertsons,
Loblaw, and Walmart.

The transformations in the industry are as follows:

 Digital ordering and self-pickup in self-adjusted time

 Digital ordering and parking pickup
 Digital ordering and delivery
 Pharmacies and Medicinal prescription online upload and delivery or store pickup
  Increasing store sanitation and delivery sanitation
 Store limitation of customers and implement slot booking for store visits to reduce store
queuing and rush outside the store.

Examples-

o Over-the-counter by Walmart provided medication and healthcare support creating an

increase in revenue by 2.4%
o Third-party collaboration for delivery helped Dollar General to be accessible in
10,700 locations during 2021
o Smartshop mobile pay by Sainsbury’s they were the first grocery retailer in the UK to
offer customers the chance to checkout-free using their smartphone in 2021
o E-commerce adaptation by Loblaw generated $2.8 billion(in Canadian dollars) in
revenue from online sources.
o ExpressPay by BJ’s allowed members to skip checkout lines in its shopping club
giving them freedom of mobile payments and skipping the queue.
And many more.

Methodology
Using the Objective all the findings were done and quarterly comparisons were done through the
last available quarter report from the same quarter of the previous year.

Examples-

1. Kroger Sales Comparison Q4

2021 vs Q4 2020 ( Results and
findings are sales increased after
implementing digital methods)
2. Dollar General Q1’2021 and
Q1’2022 comparison sales ( Resulted in
an increase in sales after applying
digital methods to more stores and
regions)

3. BJ’s Q1’2021 vs Q1’2022

comparison sales (resulted in profit
after implementing digital payment and
online ordering and pickups)

4. Big Lots! Q1’2021 vs Q1’2022

comparison sales (resulted in a
decrease in sales as no digital
beneficiaries or methods weren’t
applied or adapted)
In methodology Excel was used to compare financial data and create a financial data sheet and
then using bar graph comparison was done of net sales, revenue, net income, operational cost,
and expenses, and all ratios were also found in the process

Conclusion

It is concluded that in the grocery industry the companies which adopted digital transformation
and used digital changes in the timeline resulted in increased sales and customers rather than
those who failed in their sales because of not adopting digital transformations.

Results & Findings

I was assigned the industry and its key players all I have to do was to create a quarterly financial
sheet that gave me an insight into their revenue before and after the assigned year and it helped
me to compare the data easily. I used the measuring parameter as the digital transformations
done by the companies in this industry. Key players were Kroger, Ocado, Sainsbury, Albertsons,
Loblaw, and Walmart.

The transformations in the industry are as follows:

 Digital ordering and self-pickup in self-adjusted time

 Digital ordering and parking pickup
 Digital ordering and delivery
 Pharmacies and Medicinal prescription online upload and delivery or store pickup
 Increasing store sanitation and delivery sanitation
 Store limitation of customers and implement slot booking for store visits to reduce store
queuing and rush outside the store.

Discussion & Conclusions

Conclusion till what I have learned includes, reading the complete annual report and finding
annual revenue, net profit, operational profit and calculating the ratios for benchmarking and
comparison of the company’s data from its last year seeing how a company is developed or is the
company earning the profit after it applied any digital transformation. How it delivers goods to
the people and how it enables customers to pick up the product.

Examples-

o Over-the-counter by Walmart provided medication and healthcare support creating an

increase in revenue by 2.4%
 o Third-party collaboration for delivery helped Dollar General to be accessible in
10,700 locations during 2021
o Smartshop mobile pay by Sainsbury’s they were the first grocery retailer in UK to
offer customers the chance to checkout-free using their smartphone in 2021
o E-commerce adaptation by Loblaw generated $2.8 billion(in Canadian dollars) in
revenue from online sources.
o Kesko used the Mobilepay app in a successful test program.

o Launch of the K-ruoka mobile app assists users in planning their grocery shopping by
providing 8,000 K-ruoka.fi recipes, 8,000 tailored benefits, and store-specific deals.
o K Group also developed guidance and phone services to assist senior citizens with
their grocery shopping. In addition, several K-stores provided additional
o ExpressPay by BJ’s allowed members to skip checkout lines in its shopping club
giving them freedom of mobile payments and skipping the queue.
And many more.

Learnings
I have done 2 complete projects here and the 3rd one is ongoing

Learning from 1st project :

 Finding the data through annual reports

 How the pet product market works
 C-store system and the restaurant chain
 Revenue benchmarking

Learning from 2nd project:

 How Insurance companies work in the USA

 Why trends are necessary for buyers of the USA
 How secondary research is done
 How to rely on data for research from a secondary site

Learning from 3rd Project (ongoing)

 Working on the landing page of the given grocery store

 Comparison of data before and after COVID-19 in the grocery store
 Comparing the quarterly data
 Making of YOY comparison Sheet for Grocery store
 Quarterly or Half-yearly Comparison and Timeline report
 Digital Timeline for the company for how digitally a company is developed
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