Overview
This course examines the strategic and operational role of automation, digital platforms, and connected retail systems in contemporary commerce. Students analyse e-commerce architecture, content management systems, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, order management, inventory and warehouse platforms, payment gateways, point-of-sale systems, marketplace integrations, product information management, customer data platforms, application programming interfaces, webhooks, workflow automation, low-code tools, robotic process automation, and foundational data integration concepts.
Through applied analysis and design activities, students investigate requirements gathering, process redesign, interoperability, data quality, cybersecurity, privacy, access controls, reliability, vendor evaluation, implementation planning, and change management. Retail applications include automated order routing, replenishment alerts, personalised recommendations, abandoned-cart messaging, returns processing, customer-service workflows, and omnichannel inventory visibility. Students map current processes, identify automation opportunities, design future-state workflows, evaluate platforms against business requirements, and develop an automation prototype or documented implementation proposal.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the roles and interrelationships of major retail information systems and digital platforms.
- Assess the feasibility of automation initiatives using operational, technical, financial, and customer-experience criteria.
- Distinguish strategic platform choices from tactical automation tools in retail operating environments.
- Specify functional, technical, integration, security, privacy, and access-control requirements for retail systems.
- Evaluate platform vendors and integration approaches against defined business requirements, risks, controls, and implementation constraints.
- Design current-state and future-state retail processes incorporating appropriate workflow automation and system interoperability.
- Develop an automation prototype or implementation proposal supported by data-quality, reliability, change-management, and governance considerations.
- Measure operational impact using cost, speed, accuracy, service quality, and customer-experience indicators.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Lab | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Fortnightly | All semester |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | System analysis report | 20.00% |
| Deliverable | Process mapping and future-state workflow | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Platform comparison brief | 15.00% |
| Capstone | Automation prototype or implementation proposal | 25.00% |
| Deliverable | Team presentation | 10.00% |
| Exam | Final examination | 15.00% |
Prerequisites
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.