CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

An automated book shop point of sales and ordering system is a computerized system that facilitates the capturing, processing and storage of sales and book ordering information. The system aids the easy retrieval of needed information pertaining to sales record and customers that have placed an order for a book.

A bookshop is a shop were books are sold. To efficiently manage a bookshop a point of sales and ordering system is needed. A point of Sales (POS) software records each sale when it happens, so, inventory records are always up-to-date. Better still, much more information about the sale using an automated system than you could use manual system. By running reports based on this information, you can make better decisions about ordering and merchandising [1]. With a POS system:

• You can analyze sales data, figure out how well all the items on your shelves sell, and adjust purchasing levels accordingly.
• You can maintain a sales history to help adjust your buying decisions for seasonal purchasing trends.
• You can improve pricing accuracy by integrating bar-code scanners and credit card authorization ability with the POS system.

There are plenty of popular POS software systems that enable you to use add-on devices at your checkout stations, including electronic cash drawers, bar-code scanners, credit card readers, and receipt or invoice printers. POS packages frequently come with integrated accounting modules, including general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, purchasing, and inventory control systems. In essence, a POS system is an all-in-one way to keep track of your business’s cash flow [2].

1.1 Background of the study

At the point of sale, the seller calculates total cost of books bought and an invoice is issued to the customer. After receiving payment, receipt for the transaction, which is usually printed will be issued to the customer.. The point of sale (POS) is often referred to as the point of service because it is not just a point of sale but also a point of return or customer order.

One of the ways to improve sales management in a book shop is by implementing a POS system. For effective sales management an automated system such as book shop point of sales and ordering system is needed to enable the bookshop maintain proper record of sales so that reports of sales can be easily provided when needed [3].

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Many business enterprise such as book shops still manually record and process sakes transactions.To solve this problem, an automated system is needed. The identified problems are:

i.                   Interchange of book(s) order ticket with other tickets

ii.                 Difficulty in providing appropriate and updated books information.

iii.              Sometimes they may be errors in computation of sales.

iv.              Sales record information cannot be easily presented instantly with manual system.

v.                 Lack of proper sales management

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to develop an automated  book shop point of sales and ordering system. The following are the objectives of the study:

i.                   To implement an automated system that will enable users to register order placed on books to database.

ii.                 It will help for easy retrieval of book orders made by the customers.

iii.              Provide a user friendly environment between the customers and employee thus increasing the efficiency of the book ordering system.

iv.              To design a system that can be used to capture and process sales information and generate and invoice for the sales.

v.                 To design a system that can be use to provide reports of daily sales made in the book shop,

1.4 Significance of the Study This study is significant in the following ways:

1.     It will serve as a sales management information system to the management of the book shop.

2.     It will aid accurate recording on purchased order and delivery in the bookshop.

3.     It is also significant to the customers as it will aid proper documentation of sales transaction.

4.     It will reduce the workload in the present system

5.     It will reduce time wasted in data processing..

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study covers automated book shop point of sales and ordering system using Dev Consort services Bookshop, Ikot Ekpene as a case study, to enable customers order for books and get it delivered accordingly and also to reduce the long queues of customers at the counter ordering for books and to reduce the work load on the employees.

1.6 Organization of the Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the introduction, background of the study, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review and covers theoretical background, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, constraints of the study, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Book Shop: A store where books and related accessories are sold.

Point of Sales: A system that is used to process transaction billing information at the point of sales.

Ordering: To place a request for something ahead of time.

System: The combination of one or more related parts that work together in order to realize a specific objective.