_ Sales are recorded along with prices at the Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS)
terminals and sent to the store computer so that the management knows what
products are selling quickly and what products need promoting (eg special offers).
_ Head Office is contacted via email for administrative matters such as double-
checking prices, special offers, staff problems, income/outcome, etc.
_ Marks & Spencer also has a website on which people can see what products are
available and order them from home if they cannot reach the store.
_ Information on truck location enables supervisors at the distribution centres to
check up on their progress and make sure that they.re actually working.
_ The store computers send sales information collected from the EPOS terminals to
the mainframe computer at Stockley Park. This sales information is used to
produce budgets and make financial projections for the forthcoming year.
_ The Customer Insight Unit (CIU) gives the company feedback on customers.
opinions about special offers, prices, services, etc.
_ Many internal and external communications take place by email.
a Sales
ICT is used to record and analyse sales.
The EPOS terminals in the stores capture
sales information when products are
scanned. They record the amount of each
item that is sold so that it can be deducted
from the stock in the store computer. This
is important, as without this the store
computer couldn.t automatically priorities
ordering goods near minimum levels.
Using ICT at the checkouts speeds up
customer throughput, since the operator
does not need to remember the prices of
items. It also means that special deals
such as second item half price can be
offered to customers.
A sales receipt for goods
purchased from Marks &
Spencer
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Sales information collected from the EPOS terminals is stored at the mainframe
computer at Stockley Park for six weeks so that the analysts and statisticians can
calculate what is selling quickly and what products are not selling well. This information
is needed to update stock levels held at the distribution centres and . if necessary .
generate orders for products which are selling well. If the analysts identify any products
which are not selling as well as expected, action can be taken to address this. For
example, by reducing the price or moving them to another store where they are more
popular.
Customers can use credit cards to pay for goods. Magnetic stripe readers at the
terminals read information from the credit card and get authorisation from the
customer.s bank to accept the payment.
The number of sales improved for Marks & Spencer when it began to put cafés inside
some of its stores. These provide tired customers with an opportunity to rest and, if
they.re hungry, a chance to have a quick snack or maybe even a full meal. Also, it can
bring in more customers. As they make their way to the café (which can be positioned
at the back of the store) the customers can see what products are available and on
offer. Once they.ve satisfied their hunger, they can then go and buy items they noticed
on their way to the café. This strategy has increased Marks & Spencer.s sales by
mixing architecture and psychology, and has proved to be very effective.
Customer can also use the website to purchase products from home. Orders from the
website are recorded at the mainframe computer. Credit card payments over the
internet are authorised by using the same method as the EPOS terminals, or those
delivering the goods will have a record of outstanding payments so that the person can
pay upon delivery.
Data from the charge card system and other external sources such as surveys can be
used to find out what sort of customers live where, how much they.re willing to spend,
and what products they prefer to buy. This information informs Head Office what items
are selling well in various regions of the country when combined with internet sales and
sales information from all its branches. They can then redirect surpluses of these items
to the stores where they seem to be selling well from stores that are not selling as
many of them.
b Purchasing
ICT is used for purchasing stock from suppliers. It is essential that the company does
not run out of goods to sell. If it does then customers will go elsewhere to find what
they want. Some of the goods needed by the stores will already be available at the
distribution centre, others will need to be ordered from suppliers. ICT is used to work
out what can be supplied directly from the distribution centre and what needs to be
ordered in. Orders from the website are added to orders from the stores to produce
orders to suppliers. Orders are then relayed via EDI to the suppliers, who can quickly
dispatch the goods to the nearest distribution centre. The system records incoming
stock deliveries and generates payments to suppliers. ICT makes it possible to order
goods just in time (JIT). This cuts down on wastage especially of food items with a
limited shelf life.
c Logistics
Suppliers send their goods to the distribution centres, where ICT is used to organise
them into separate orders for each store and to work out the loading sequence and
route for each truck. At the distribution centres, the internet ordered products are added
to the products heading to the nearest store. Trucks carry the goods to the stores that
UG013289 . Portfolio marking guidance . Edexcel GCSE in Applied Information and Communication Technology
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17
need them. To ensure maximum efficiency, the delivery trucks are monitored on their
journey from the distribution centre to the stores using Global Positioning Satellite
(GPS) software. This means that supervisors know where they are and can ensure that
they don.t waste time, because time = money. Using ICT to organise delivery routes
means that best use is made of the fleet of trucks and avoids trucks going out to stores
half-empty. This is also better for the environment.
At the store, the products ordered over the internet are separated from those needed
by the store and delivered to the people who have ordered them.
Staff at the stores use drop plans to check what goods should be at certain areas. They
are then able to put the right items on the right shelf. This means that customers don.t
have to spend more time trying to find the product they.re looking for because it.s
always in the same place in every store. The Universal Product Code (UPC) shows
what time the goods need to be put on the shelves. There are three numbers in the
code: 1 = immediately, 2 = at 12:00pm, 3 = at 4:00pm.
d Finance
Company finances are organised by Head Office. Every year, Marks & Spencer earns
£8 billion out of which £1 billion is profit. Sales in the UK provide approximately 90% of
this £8 billion (half from food and the other from homeware, clothing, etc. Information
from the store computers is used to work out the average income weekly, monthly or
annually for each store. Collating the income from stores individually, by county or
nation-wide assists in drawing up budgets. This means that strategies that are working
can be used elsewhere and others that are less effective can be scrapped.
ICT provides managers with up-to-date information about all aspects of the business.
The planning of financial strategy is a vital area of the company.s existence. Income
from clothing often fluctuates, as clothes that were selling quickly go out of fashion.
Money needs to be set aside to buy new products that will balance the loss and bring
back the income that clothing gives the company. The same has to be done for the
food department, though it is less of a problem as more money needs to be put into
developing new meals than replacing failing products as there is a large probability that
some people will like a product and continue buying it.
