GHS Ltd is a small local company that sells motor car accessories. The company has 26 small retail outlets located throughout the UK. Each retail outlet employs five people: a sales assistant, a receptionist/secretary, two technical advisors and a manager.
The company operates a networked EPOS (electronic point of sale) system for all sales.
Sales are:
§ through the companies website,
§ by mail order, or
§ over the counter cash/credit card sales.
Internet sales are handled by the company’s head office and despatched from the company’s main distribution centre in Crawley.
Mail order and over the counter sales are handled by the sales assistant at each individual retail outlet.
Over the counter sales can be for cash, credit card payment or payment by cheque. The sales assistant records the sale using the company’s EPOS system and issues a sales receipt to the customer.
Mail order sales are only accepted from authorised customers. These customers are authorised by the retail outlet manager and are allowed 30 days’ credit.
All mail order sales are recorded as a deferred sale using the company’s EPOS system.
A list of these sales is held by the sales assistant until the payment is received when payment is recorded.
Payments not received within the 30 day period are referred to the manager.
The receptionist/secretary opens all incoming mail and passes any payments to the manager for review. The manager passes these back to the sales assistant for recording in the company’s EPOS system, and for the issue of a receipt which is sent back to the customer.
The sales assistant passes all cash and cheques back to the manager, in time for them to be banked each day, when the manager leaves to pick up his children from school. The manager also prepares the bank deposit slip.
The manager is solely responsible for any discounts and verifies these before payments are recorded in the company’s EPOS system. The manager is also responsible for writing off any bad debts after seeking and receiving approval for these actions from head office.
Required
Describe the system from a systems perspective, including suggestions for improvements.