1.

Data integration with the company’s MIS

A decision support system can provide crucial information for the company in order for
managers to be able to take decisions that are both feasible and quick. In the specific case of
Cărturești, the marketing intelligence system to be implemented (a SQL server data) should
provide information regarding two major keypoints: trend analysis and monitorization of
supplies.

Consequently, the system will need data from the sales team, data which should be grouped
into categories specific for different items. From the knowledge we gathered, we identified
five main categories of products: books, games, tea, music and others (here should be
included gadgets, items specific for office and miscellaneous). Including products into
categories will ease the work of employees (the application will classify each product and the
employees will better understand the results they receive). The application we thought of
would highlight the products have a spike in a period and it will make it easier to create
promotions and offers to please consumers, thus placing Cărturești one step ahead of the
competition. Upon inserting the figures received from the sales team, from the accounting
systems and the results from the observational research regarding the frequency of visitors,
the application will analyze all the data and will present a report, thus making it easy to place
promotions for the most looked-after products. This Marketing Intelligence System can be
personalized for regions and then for cities and as a final step, for book shops, thus making
each book shop a unique place in the company.

Furthermore, the system can be improved by adding a direct marketing feature (by
automatically sending an email containing a link to customers, letting them know about
special offers). By accessing the link, the company can measure the efficiency of the system,
because it provides knowledge about the number of people who accessed it and also how
much time they spent on that specific link.

In terms of the relationship with suppliers, the system to be implemented should help the
personnel to place orders. In this sense, when a product runs out of stock or it is in stock
below a certain percent, the system should automatically notify the personnel and also the
suppliers, while in the same time placing an order in the suppliers’ system that should be
approved by the managers.
The system should also feature a friendly interface and should be available for both computers
and mobile application for employees.

The system’s efficiency shall be measured by comparing the periods when the system is
running and the ones when the system is not used. It should be firstly implemented in one
specific book store in Bucharest for a determined period of time (especially in a period when
the flow of customers is not too high). That allows the system to prove its efficiency and to
observe if there are changes in the customers’ satisfaction.

In order to prevent errors in the system, namely not introducing wrong data in the system, the
data to be introduced should be carefully monitored and kept up to date.

2. Development or acquirement

The final question that arises is if to buy a software that already exists or to develop an own
software.

In this sense, considering the case that a software is developed especially for Cărturești would
imply pros and cons aspects. Regarding the pros, the software to be designed would present a
friendly user interface, would easily adapt to the company’s needs, would understand the
customer base and in case of emergencies it should provide 24/7 support (this shall come as a
guarantee from the developing company). Regarding the cons, this software would come at a
high price and also the time of developing it could be long.

On the other hand, there are also options on the market in acquiring an existing software. Our
research shows that a company like Cărturești could use Lightspeed Retail, a POS solution
that is suitable for retailers in different industries such as home décor, apparel, foot wear and
others. This software allows managers to monitor customers and inventory and process
transactions. This software is available for both Mac OS and Windows, it comes at a
competitive price and can be used in small, medium and large enterprises. However, our
research showed that the were users in the past that complained about how this software
worked when handling multiple stores.

A second option could be Epos Now Software, which is described as a retail management
system for small to mid-sized businesses. Besides POS module, this software offers Customer
Management and Retail Accounting (including general ledger, purchase orders and payroll
processing). It is also compatible on Windows, Mac, Android. Just like the first one, this
software can be easily used being a cheap alternative.

Our third proposal is Comcash Retail ERP Software. It is also cheap and it supports all types
of business, being compatible also with iOS devices. Another benefit is that this software is
cloud supported. It also allows retailers to collect some basic information at the point of sale
and then email the buyer a link so they can navigate to the store’s e-commerce site to manage
their profile.

All in all, we believe that although the existent software systems provide good benefits, a
fully customized one would make a positive difference for Cărturești in the industry.