Frequent Shopper Program

Running head : FREQUENT SHOPPER PROGRAM LAN

LAN LAN

KEY

C .I .C - CHECK IN COUNTER

LAN - LOCAL ACCESS NEWORK

WAN - WIDE ACCESS NETWORK

DESIGN TRADE OFF APPROACH

The design of the project should be able to satisfy the basic information needs to make the initiative successful . It should be able to capture the customer 's identity through a scanning or input method at the check-in counter . That is , customer 's should be encouraged to register with the store 's frequent shopper program and be issued with a

smart card that they will present every time they purchase goods so the customer identity can be recorded along with the purchase . The server in the store will then transmit that information to the company 's mainframe located in the head office

The mainframe will then update the records and relay back to the store the shopper 's status as concerns the program . Consequently , in a matter of seconds , the shopper will walk out of the store with full details of how many points they have earned . This system will work for all the shops and ensure real time feedback for any information required

Networking of the stores servers would provide a secondary backup system in case the mainframe crashes and loses all the information However , because the stores have their own data which they need to store , any additional information may lead to the systems hanging due to overload . To deal with this problem the company will need to install a second mainframe that will backup all information that is received and store it in case of a system malfunction . This extra cost will eat into the company 's profits but remains the only sure way to guard against loss of information

Detailed Design Process and Design Specifications

The software that will be installed in the store should be able to accomplish all the tasks that are required for the smooth operation of the process . It should be able to capture the shopper 's identity and generate a pro that shows the products that that person frequently purchases and the number of points earned at the end of every transaction . The software should be able to track the sales of various goods at different stores and come up with a sale analysis per item that effectively identifies the most popular products in every store . This will assist the procurement department to re before stocks out occur . The system should be able to readjust the points after redemption by the shopper either in the form of goods discount or any other practice decided on by the management

The mainframe should be powerful enough to process this information in milliseconds to avoid the shoppers waiting at the checkout counters for long . Further the store servers should be able to transmit the information to the mainframe quickly and receive it in real time . Saving of all transactions that take place at the counters should be automatic and a back up of this data should be...