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Name Jonathan Charlton

NetID jcha757
Group Number: 29
Website Link: http://infosys1102014fcgroup29.blogspot.co.nz/
Tutorial Details
Tutor: Day: Time:
Claris Monday 1pm
Time Spent on
Assignment:
25 hours Word Count: 1649

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VIRTUAL PANTRY A MODERN APPROACH TO FOOD MANAGEMENT.
INTRODUCTION
Global food wastage is a serious problem, especially in first world countries. In NZ, avoidable
food wastage costs ~NZ$751 million per year, while in the US, this figure is closer to NZ$50
billion (Waste Not Consulting, 2013, p.7). Major causes include food expiring before
consumption, poor management (not using what you buy), and behavioural aspects. The
Virtual Pantry concept attempts to positively influence these issues through the use of IT,
and IS. The app does this by automatically logging supermarket purchases, alerting the
customer about food which is almost expired, offering recipes using only the products the
customer has (maximising usage, ensuring items arent forgotten), and generating shopping
lists based on previous purchases.
3. BUSINESS SECTION
3.1 Vision
To create a service that uses the tools of the modern world to reduce food waste, allowing
more of this scarce resource to be used in the furtherance of humanity, making the world a
better place for future generations.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Personal Organisational App Industry
Industry: Personal Organisational App Industry. This is a subsection of the app industry that
includes list making apps, calendars, and reminders.






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Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer power: High Buyers have a lot of choice in this industry. There
are many apps in the market which accomplish
similar tasks, for similar prices, with no switching
costs. E.g. a customer could choose between
Pushpins, Anylist, Fantastical 2, Groceries,
Reminders, Evernote, etc., when choosing an
effective way to write a list on their smartphone
(Kazmucha, 2013).
Supplier power: Low Individual suppliers do not have a huge influence
on this industry. There are also only a handful of
major outlets for smartphone apps (Apple App
Store, Android Marketplace, Google Play Store)
(Suter, 2012).
Threat of new entrants: High It is easy for almost anyone to create a
smartphone app and get it published on either
the Apple App Store, or the Android Marketplace
(Nystedt, 2010), and new apps are appearing
constantly, with an average of 2,371 new apps
being published each day (Koetsier, 2013).
Threat of substitutes: High Organisation isnt bound to smartphones, and the
apps are generally virtual representations of real
life tools (e.g., Evernote acts as a virtual notepad,
the Calendar app replicates a calendar). Pen and
paper is a major substitute for these kinds of
applications, and a significant portion of people

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dont use calendars or lists for organisation in the
first place. There is also a large threat of
substitute apps within the industry with no
switching costs (Kazmucha, 2013).
Rivalry among existing
competitors:
High All of the above factors combined, create a
picture of high rivalry within the industry. The
amount of competitors offering the same solution
is a major factor in this assessment, and many
apps can be forgotten about by customers
because of this intense rivalry (Koetsier, 2013).
Overall attractiveness: This industry is not attractive. There is intense competition,
competitors are constantly exiting and entering, buyers hold the power while suppliers must
follow specific channels just to get their apps published, and the threat of substitutes is
large (with some people not needing the benefits of the industry at all). However, with such
low barriers to entry, it may still be worth it for developers to take a chance in the industry,
especially if they can see an unfilled niche in the market, and provide a differentiated
product.
3.3 Customers/Needs
Virtual Pantry is targeted towards family shoppers. These people shop and cook for the rest
of the family, and need a quick and easy way to track what they have at home for meal
planning, and get simple recipe ideas using what they have at home, without
forgetting/wasting any items or spending hours researching. Cooking (including planning
and cleaning up) for a family is the most time consuming type of housework (Wendy90,
2012), while another survey of Americans found that 21% say they dont have time to cook,
and 66% say that grocery shopping is the most time consuming chore (Durand, 2011), so
time saving applications are valuable to this customer segment.


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3.4 Product/Service
When you buy groceries, a QR code is printed on the receipt. When scanned by the Virtual
Pantry app, all products purchased and their expiry dates are loaded into the app (removing
tedious data entry, saving time). The app now knows what products you have, and their
expiry. It will suggest recipes using these products, influenced by when they expire.
Shopping lists are generated when the customer deletes items theyve used from the app.
This saves time for the customer by automatically generating their shopping lists, suggesting
recipes, and providing the information needed to plan meals.
3.5 Suppliers/Partners
Suppliers include programmers, and graphic designers. Programmers supply the technical
ability to create and maintain the app. Graphic designers supply the creation of an
appealing/navigable GUI.
Partners include supermarkets, and online recipe databases. Supermarkets implement our
system (allowing us to use their information about individual customer purchases) and we
will create value for them (customer satisfaction/competitive advantage). Online recipe
databases allow us to link customers to their services through our app, creating value by
sharing our customers with them.
3.6 Strategy: Cost Leadership
Our strategy is Cost Leadership because our competitive scope is broad (supermarket
shoppers are a broad market with many participants). The price of the product is low (cheap
to develop and distribute an app, free or ~$1.00 is the usual price for this type of product for
the customer).
3.7 VCA: Marketing and Selling
The most important VCA for this business is Marketing and Selling. This is because we have a
virtual product, that doesnt require many raw materials or manufacturing, and can be
delivered easily to anyone by being downloaded. The value comes from widespread use,
and to achieve success in this industry, effective marketing must sell the app to as many

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people as possible, and remain in view of the public. The app will only have a significant
impact on food waste if it is widely used, and so it must be marketed to many to achieve our
vision. Marketing broadly also directly links to our strategy as we are targeting a broad
market.



















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3.8 Business Processes
3.8.1. SELLING PROCESS From purchasing the app to being able to use it. This is crucial to
our VCA, as getting the software into the hands of the consumer is imperative to success.
This process encompasses the entire purchasing process, from the initial request, through
payment, authorization, and starting the download.

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3.8.2. ADVERTISING PROCESS The apps widespread use is crucial to our strategy, vision and
VCA. Advertising is the main way to get market recognition, therefore, developing an
effective advertising process crucial. The process is on-going, and includes defining goals,
implementing campaigns, and assessment.




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3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. SELLING PROCESS
Authorize customer download
Email customer invoice
3.9.2. ADVERTISING PROCESS
Measure quantifiable campaign results
Compare campaign results to goals

3.10 Systems

3.10. 1. APP DISTRI BUTI ON SYSTEM This system supports the customers purchase, through
the functionalities of automatically checking the customers app store balance and
authorizing the download, and automatically emailing the invoice to the customer. This
system supports our vision by using the tools of the modern world, to facilitate the wide
distribution of our product.
3.10. 2. ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM This system automatically monitors the
effectiveness of a marketing/advertising campaign, quantifying its success by measuring the
increase/decrease in various KPIs (such as downloads), and by comparing these results to
the goals of the campaign, and making this information accessible to the marketing
department. This system supports our vision by providing insight into how advertising
efforts are affecting public recognition, and facilitating widespread distribution.
3.10. 3. CUSTOMER STORI NG SYSTEM This system allows us to easily see how many people
are using the app, and the demographics of our customers. It does this by automatically
logging them when the app is downloaded and allowing departments to easily view and
segment them into different groups, providing a deeper understanding of the market. The
system automatically captures data and transforms it, delivering information, which can be
used to market the app more effectively, and reach a broader market, directly helping to
achieve our vision.

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3.11. Summary Table

Value Chain
Activity
Processes Functionalities Specific Information
System(s)
Broad Information
System(s)

Marketing
and Selling
1. Selling Process 1. Authorize customer download

2. Email customer invoice
App Distribution System

Customer Storing System
TPS

TPS
3. Advertising
Process
1. Measure quantifiable campaign results



2. Compare campaign results to goals
Advertising Management
System


Customer Storing System
TPS



TPS/DSS

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CONCLUSION
Our Business idea was to solve the issue of domestic food waste through developing a tool
which helped consumers to plan and prepare for the meals they cook for themselves, and
their family, by converting data (the products that they have) into information (recipes
involving those products), with as little user input as possible. This was achieved through IS,
and IT, (e.g. QR code scanning, automatic recipe suggestions) which removed manual input
from the user, making the tool faster, easier, and more adaptive, than would have been
possible without these tools.

REFERENCES

1. Waste Not Consulting. (2013). Summary of Existing Information on Domestic Food
Waste. Retrieved From http://www.wasteminz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Report-
on-Food-Waste-in-NZ-2013-Final-1.1.pdf

2. Kazmucha, Allyson. (2013). Best shopping and grocery list apps for IPhone: Pushpins,
Anylist, and more!. Retrieved from http://www.imore.com/best-shopping-and-
grocery-list-apps-iphone-pushpins-anylist-and-more

3. Nystedt, Dan. (2010). Google App Inventor Lets Anyone Make Smartphone Apps.
Retrieved from
http://www.pcworld.com/article/200887/google_app_inventor_lets_anyone_make_
android_smartphone_apps.html

4. Koetsier, John. (2013). 700k of the 1.2m apps available for iPhone, Android and
windows are zombies. Retrieved from http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/26/700k-of-
the-1-2m-apps-available-for-iphone-android-and-windows-are-zombies/

5. Wendy90. (2012). The most time consuming housework. Retrieved from
http://www.essayforum.com/writing-feedback-3/most-time-consuming-housework-
bar-chart-for-37566/

6. Durand, Faith. (2011). Excuses, Excuses: Americans Top Reasons for Not Cooking.
Retrieved from http://www.thekitchn.com/excuses-excuses-americans-top-155900

7. Suter, Figge. (2012). Analysis of the app market based on Michael Porters five
competitive forces. Retrieved from http://www.thekitchn.com/excuses-excuses-
americans-top-155900