Table A.3: Technology Sophistication in Sales

||**Sales**<br>**at**<br>**the**<br>**establishment’s**<br>**premises**|**Sales by phone,**<br>**email orders, or**<br>**sales representa-**<br>**tives**|**Sales through so-**<br>**cial platforms**|**Online sales us-**<br>**ing external dig-**<br>**ital platforms**|**Online**<br>**sales**<br>**(own website)**|**Electronic**<br>**or-**<br>**ders**<br>**integrated**<br>**to SCM systems**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Functionality**|Basic features for<br>point of sale, inven-<br>tory<br>management,<br>and sales tracking.|Features for man-<br>aging<br>customer<br>data, tracking sales<br>activities,<br>and<br>automating<br>sales<br>processes.|Basic<br>features<br>for<br>creating<br>on-<br>line<br>storefronts,<br>managing<br>prod-<br>uct<br>listings,<br>and<br>processing<br>sales<br>orders.|Features for listing<br>products,<br>manag-<br>ing inventory, pro-<br>cessing orders, and<br>handling<br>shipping<br>and returns.|Extensive<br>features<br>for<br>creating<br>and<br>managing<br>online<br>stores,<br>processing<br>payments,<br>han-<br>dling<br>shipping,<br>and<br>inventory<br>management.|Comprehensive fea-<br>tures for managing<br>e-commerce,<br>order<br>processing,<br>inven-<br>tory<br>management,<br>and<br>supply<br>chain<br>integration.|
|**Integration**|Limited integration<br>with other systems.|No integration with<br>CRM<br>and<br>email<br>systems.|Limited integration<br>with<br>inventory<br>management<br>and<br>processing systems.|Good<br>integration<br>with<br>inventory<br>management<br>and<br>shipping services.|Good<br>integration<br>with<br>payment<br>gateways, shipping<br>carriers, and inven-<br>tory<br>management<br>systems.|Seamless<br>integra-<br>tion<br>with<br>supply<br>chain,<br>inventory,<br>and<br>logistics<br>sys-<br>tems.|
|**Automation**|Basic<br>automation<br>for<br>sales<br>tracking<br>and<br>inventory<br>updates.|Moderate automa-<br>tion<br>for<br>tracking<br>interactions<br>and<br>managing<br>sales<br>activities.|Moderate level of<br>automation for or-<br>der processing and<br>inventory updates.|Moderate level of<br>automation for or-<br>der processing and<br>inventory updates.|High level of au-<br>tomation for order<br>processing,<br>pay-<br>ment handling, and<br>inventory updates.|High level of au-<br>tomation for order<br>processing,<br>inven-<br>tory updates, and<br>supply chain man-<br>agement.|
|**Rank**|6|5|4|3|2|1|
|**Reason**|Basic functionality<br>and minimal inte-<br>gration or automa-<br>tion,<br>suitable<br>for<br>traditional retail.|Limited<br>sophisti-<br>cation due to lack<br>of integration, with<br>moderate automa-<br>tion<br>focusing<br>on<br>sales tracking.|Moderately sophis-<br>ticated with strong<br>integration<br>and<br>moderate automa-<br>tion,<br>suitable<br>for<br>third-party selling.|High sophistication<br>with<br>extensive<br>e-<br>commerce function-<br>ality, good integra-<br>tion,<br>and<br>signif-<br>cant automation.|High sophistication<br>with<br>e-commerce<br>integration<br>and<br>automation|Most sophisticated<br>due to its compre-<br>hensive functional-<br>ity, seamless inte-<br>gration with supply<br>chains,<br>and<br>high<br>automation.|
|**Technology**<br>**Ex-**<br>**ample**|Ofine stores|WhatsApp/<br>Email/<br>Salesmen|Facebook Shops|Amazon Seller Cen-<br>tral|Shopify|SAP<br>Commerce<br>Cloud|
|**Cost**|Cost of setting up<br>stores|Cost of mobile, in-<br>ternet, travel|Facebook Shops|$39.99/month<br>+<br>selling fees|$29-$299/month|Starts<br>at<br>$100,000/year|
|**Launch Year**|n/a|n/a|2020|2000|2006|2013|
|**ChatGPT**<br>**rank-**<br>**ing**|1|2|3|4|4.5|5|
|**Estimated**<br>**time**<br>**in a task**|3 hours|2 hours|1.5 hours|1 hour|30 minutes|30 minutes|

Source: The table draws upon various sources of information including desk research, and websites of various companies including SAP, Shopify, Amazon, Facebook, and WhatsApp. *CHATGPT estimates the time for processing sales orders, following similar characteristics of a given firm. The prompt for these estimates and CHATGPT ranking is available in the appendix.