Part A (maximum 1000 words)

This part emphasizes on the use of Big Data and its applications. Students arerequired to demonstrate research in the area of Big Data and its solutions.

Over the past several years the retail sector has been bombarded with challenges.Brick-and Mortar stores have closed in record numbers and continue to do so. Indeed virtually every member of the entire industry is at high risk. They are vexed by several threats ranging from increased competition from online super-shopper sites such as Amazon to a plethora of more brand-specific problems, such as lack of differentiators, pricing pressures, muddled marketing messaging, poor businesses processes, online pricing/brand comparison sites, customer reviews on their own websites, vulnerability to customer social messaging, and an overall disconnection with buying public. One of the retail sectors is Alana's Retail Clothing House (ARCH). ARCH former strategies in merchandising, merchandise selection, pricing models, customer service, and marketing are no longer working as effectively as they have in the past. Theyare planningto introduceanew product into themarket. However, in recent times the companyhas madesomebad investment decisions whichin turnhave impacted their profit bottomline. Thus the senior managementrequires athoroughanalysisof everynew product that is introduced to the market.As asenior Data analyst,you havebeen appointed toadvise thesenior managementon the feasibilityof thenewproduct.

Your taskis to suggest ways how Big Data Solutions can help Alana's Retail Clothing House. You need to write a report to the senior management on Product selection and pricing, using Big Data to develop new pricing models, to find better ways to get more, better, and cleaner customer data which can help profitability.

PART B:

You are required to select and examine an existing company that is currently using business intelligence and decision support systems using Big Data as part of its business strategy. In order for you to meet the requirements ofthis Part B, you need to answer the following questions:

1. Discuss in detail what kind of Big Data online or offline is being used for the business. How the organization of chose the right Big Data application for their business.

2. Discuss in detail what Big Data toolsand techniques areused bythe organizationto support its business operations or processes. Provide examples on how those tools and techniques are used in the organization.

3. What improvements/enhancements can beobserved from this company as compared to other companies within the same industry when using Big data? What are the Business and Organizational impact using Big Data?

4. How do you think Big Data solutions provide values to business intelligence toyour chosen company and its customers?

5. What arethe main factors that influencethe success of business intelligence in the company?

You need to useat least three (5) academic references in your analysis.