Shop in a box

Shop in a box is a design concept created to define the key technical & operational implementation items and processes required to build a new Retail establishment in a new territory or new business area. The emphasis is on keeping costs low and functionality high. When development is combined with Agile development methodologies such as SCRUM and Lean, time to market is significantly reduced.
In essence the concept focuses on the minimal services required to deliver a fully functional operation in iterative phases, keeping start-up costs to an absolute minimum and delivering enough functionality to start deliver revenue as soon as possible.
Concept Diagram to be added here ...
The concept was devised during 2001 by a team working for a major UK Retail Company. The term Shop in a box was used as a project goal statement initially but soon came to signify the way development was delivered in Retail environments. During the 2007 IDC conference in London, Senior Project Manager Gareth Williams, who was the initial creator of the term and concept, said "...if companies are to be fully functioning in a new marketplace in under 6 months the shop in a box approach has to be adopted. However, it is not a quick win and cannot be utilized to its full potential without forethought and planning. Take it from me it's certainly nice to be able to pull a shop box off the shelf and discuss the items required rather than building from the ground up."
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Design of the Shop in a box varies from company to company as each company has its own goals and minimum requirements. However, the key constituent parts of the original solution were defined as:
* Payroll System;
* Electronic Financial Transaction system (EFT);
* Supply chain systems;
* Electronic point of service;
* Promotional display technology;
* Time and attendance system;
* Security processes/systems;
* Fraud detection services;
* Office equipment and processes;
* Logistical services;
Through the movement of the original shop in a box team to other Retail organizations, the concept has now been used to successfully implement several major retailers over the past decade, and continues to form a key tool used when companies expand into new territories, specifically when expanding into very competitive markets in the Far East, and more recently in the USA, Europe and Central America.

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