Supermarkets

A type of retail institution that has a moderately broad and moderately deep product assortment spanning groceries and some nonfood lines, that offers relatively few customer services, and that ordinarily emphasises price in either an offensive or defensive way.
 * 1) Describe the term **
 * su·per·mar·ket **
 * noun **  /ˈso͞opərˌmärkit/  supermarkets, plural

Supermarkets use databases to keep track of their inventory so that they can be always stocked with fresh goods. Moreover, they have a database to store information about each goods, as to whom the manufacture is, the expiry date, cost, amount of supplies, etc. The main system
 * 2) Describe the use of IT in your area. **





Moreover, supermarkets use relational databases to store details of their items that they are selling, along with their price, their supplier, so that cashiers can easily get data about the price (at the cashier) and they can contact their suppliers easily when they need to stock up their stock.


 * *Barcode scanner: ** A bar-code scanner measures the intensity of a light beam reflected from a printed bar code to identify the digits making up a unique identification number. The digits display the product name, manufacturer and a unique code for identification. If a label containing a bar code becomes damaged or cannot be read for some other reason, it may still be possible to enter the identification number manually.


 * *Main server: ** The main server consists of the relational database that consists of the data of the product and the price of the product.


 * *Distribution centre: ** Distribution centres store and sort goods using warehouse space, which are going to be redistributed to retailers, wholesalers or customers.


 * EPOS: ** Point of sale (POS) or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs. A "checkout" refers to a POS terminal or more generally to the hardware and software used for checkouts, the equivalent of an electronic cash register.

- In the past, they would have to count stock by hand, whereas now, a machine can count it, and we can know the stock number by computer. (The computer will record the amount of supply it gets from the supplier, and subtract the amount that gets checked out.) - Electronic funds transfer improves cash flow, which are both efficient for the customer and the supermarket, as they would be able to pay with their credit or debit cards. It has also lead to an ease in keeping track of money going in and out, as it has become more accurate, and more timely. - Controlling stock is easier now, as how much is left in the stock can be seen with a computer, rather than being counted by hand. Today, we can check the stocks with the main server, as every time an item is checked out from the store, it marks a -1 on to the stock. Moreover, the staff has a handheld device that could check the stock of that item by scanning the barcode on the shelf, which means that they can check stock details around the supermarket with ease.
 * 3) Explain how IT helps with your area. **

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- If there are problems with the main server, there will be problems with checking out the items, as the main server is used to check the price of the item, and this can be trouble for the customers. - Because everything is controlled/runs with technology, if there are any electrical disruption (e.g. power cuts, etc.), it can affect the supermarket. Moreover, this goes for distribution centres too. Since all their data are recorded electronically, if there are any electrical disruptions, data could be lost, which will negatively affect the supermarket.
 * 4) Describe any problems with IT in your area. **

**Reliability and integrity**: Problems of reliability could arise, if there is a problem with the main server, there will be a disruption in the management of business, as the shop won’t know how much supply they have and may run our of stock, which is nuisance for the customers, and therefore, the system is not completely reliable at all times.
 * 5) Identify and explain possible issues with your area. **
 * Security ** : There are issues with security in terms of theft. Theft occurs a lot in supermarkets, and there is no perfect way to stop theft from happening. One theft may be just a little loss, but a lot of theft can be a trouble, as there are loss in profit, and moreover, as the product is not checked out, it won’t go through the main server, therefore, if a lot of the same product were stolen, there may be cases where it might run out of stock.