ITEE ITEE-1 | Page 83

2-3 Business industry 2-3-1 Business system With the development of information systems, businesses using them have spread rapidly, and Internet and information systems are now in use in diverse business fields. 1 Typical systems in business fields The following are some typical business systems. Reference POS Abbreviation for “Point Of Sales.” Reference Private Brand A “private brand” or “PB,” is an exclusive product developed and sold independently by a retailer. Also referred to as a “store brand.” Reference EOS “EOS” is a system for online ordering between corporations. Orders originating from retail stores as well as procurement and invoicing are managed centrally by computer, with orders being made online from the retailer’s computer terminal to the headquarters or wholesalers. Abbreviation for “Electronic Ordering System.” 77 (1)POS system A “POS system” is a system that collects sales information (what was sold to whom, when, where, and how much?) when products are sold. POS systems make use of barcodes as the basis for merchandise management and are used in “distribution information systems” in places such as convenience stores, supermarkets, department stores, shopping centers, and restaurants. One advantage of POS systems is that market research and sales forecasts can be carried out based on the sales data that they collect. The collected information is used in strategies for product development and store expansion and is also useful for adjusting order quantities and inventory quantities depending on the season, region, or time period. Recently, the use of POS systems has expanded to product development of private brands in the retail industry, and POS systems are ranked as important information systems that are essential in retail business strategies. (2)IC Card An “IC card” is a plastic card embedded with an “IC (Integrated Circuit) chip.” Since IC cards can encrypt information, they are attracting attention for being difficult to counterfeit. Also, they can record a large amount of information from several dozen to several hundred times that of conventional magnetic cards.