CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Introduction

A sales recording and reporting management system for supermarket is a computerized system that will aid the easy management of financial and inventory aspects of the supermarket so that reports can be presented when needed. The range of items and materials which might be held in supermarkets is huge. The variety and quantity of items and materials held in a supermarket will depend on its size and on its range of activities.  Since the items in a supermarket are meant for sales, there is therefore need for a sales recording and report management system. Every item in a supermarket constitutes to the generality of the stock in the supermarket. As sales are being made, the stock levels of the items are reducing thereby making stock control a vital aspect of supermarket sales management.

Stock control in supermarket comprises mainly the clerical and administrative functions of stock control involves the following: Ensuring that the right types and qualities of items needed for production, sale and distribution, are always available when required, ensuring that stock is issued in the correct sequence, that is, “first in first out”, so that “older” stock is not allowed to deteriorate by being kept too long in the Store, for instance because it has been hidden from view by more recently received stock, maintaining records showing the “movement” of items into and out of the Store, controlling and monitoring those movements and maintaining full records of the items in the Store, ensuring that the correct “stock levels” of the various items are set and are maintained, that orders and reorders are made (or requested to be made) in good time, and that what is ordered is received, checking, counting or otherwise measuring stock to ensure that records are accurate and that no losses are occurring due to pilfering, theft, damage or poor storage, pricing and valuing the items in the Store.

For optimal supermarket sales and inventory management process, robust functionality is needed for managing the stocks in the supermarket. This will enable the management of the supermarket to easily record and keep track of sales made, the items sold and other valuable report needed to monitor the income and expenses in the supermarket daily.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

The following problems were identified in the existing system at Bonanza supermarket in Ikot Ekpene:

1. It is difficult to obtain reports about the financial details of the sales made daily.
2. There is error most times in the computation of items sold.
3. The stock level of items cannot be easily monitored as they are being sold.

1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to develop a sales recording and report management system for supermarket. The following are the specific objectives of the study:

1. To design a software system. To accurately compute sales record.
2. To implement a system that will save sales record to database for future reports purpose
3. To design a system that will update inventory level of the items sold to database.

1.3 Scope of the Study

This research work covers Sales recording and report management system for supermarket a case study of Bonanza supermarket, Ikot Ekpene. It is limited to the recording of daily sales and managing of the stock level (inventory) of items sold

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study are:

1. It will provide a system that will facilitate accurate recording of sales in a supermarket.
2. It will help in monitoring the daily sales record of the supermarket through querying of the database records.
3. It will provide a system that can be used to perform computation of the items sold in the supermarket.
4. It will serve as a useful reference material to other scholars.

• 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 preliminaries, theoretical background, 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, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. 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, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.6 Definition of terms

Sales Management: Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm’s sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales through the sale of products and services and resulting profit drive most commercial business.

Inventory: Inventory is the raw materials, work-in-process products and finished goods that are considered to be the portion of a business’s assets that are ready or will be ready for sale.

Stock: The goods or merchandise kept on the premises of a shop or warehouse and available for sale or distribution.