Touchpoint Design as Interface: Cloud Technology and the Omnichannel Business Model of a Culinary Micro-Enterprise
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Abstract
Research into digital transformation among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has developed along three distinct lines of inquiry: the factors influencing cloud adoption, the performance benefits of data and digital capabilities, and brand and service design. As a result, the literature better explains why micro enterprises adopt technology than how that adoption translates into captured value, and it seldom treats design as an integral part of the process. This study aims to fill this gap through an embedded single-case study on an MSME, combined with a mixed-method approach. Three data sources were used: a financial report of daily transaction records, a product list, and an observation report on adoption of five cloud technology pillars. The transaction data were processed through aggregation, trend and product analysis, and a profit-and-loss reconstruction based on documented cost assumptions. The analysis shows consistent month-on-month sales growth and a two-tier revenue structure in which high-value products capture most revenue. At the same time, low-priced items sustain visit frequency, creating a division of labor between value creation and value capture. The study analyzes seven documented touchpoints for visual identity, information architecture, catalog design, and interaction flow, showing how each mediates between an adopted pillar and a business function and positioning design as an interface construct rather than an adjacent discipline. The study proposes a design, technology, and business integration framework and advances it as an analytical generalization stated for replication rather than as a statistically generalizable finding.
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