Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study Information, in today’s intensely competitive business environment, has become as important as, or even more important than products. For a retailer, a Point of Sale system is important in gathering and applying information effectively. A simple cash register cannot gather or utilize information effectively enough (Vazov, 2010). According to Smith (2003), a Point of Sale (POS) system is a system for managing the sales of retail goods. The term is used to refer to the software and hardware associated with checkout stands, and all of the bundled features which are included. Most retailers use a POS system at their checkout stands or counters, and several major manufacturers offer POS systems designed for various types of businesses, ranging from grocery stores to clothing boutiques. In the retail trade, the “point of sale” is the moment when a customer walks up to a counter with goods and prepares to purchase them. During this point of sale, a POS system is extremely useful to register the purchase, keep track of inventory, purchase details such as time and date, and input all this data into a database which then can be used for generating reports.
In any kind of business, most defiantly a POS system is required. This is because POS systems make the whole process of check out a lot easier. Owners will always have use of such equipment in their business. The importance of such equipment in retail is indispensable. There are many benefits to the POS systems. It lets owners maintain an inventory. All the items are categorized in the computer. POS systems are necessary part of most businesses. While these are traditionally referred to as an automated cash register, modern technology has seen that change to include a number of other elements that all make a business more efficient and easier to run. POS systems have changed the face of retail. Now, a small or large business can easily keep track of what products customers buy. A business can keep data of all purchases and compare this data from a year earlier or other stores within or outside of a region. Common POS systems include a display screen for the clerk, a customer display, a cash drawer, a credit card swiping system, a printer, and a bar code scanner, along with the computer installed with the POS software. Then there is the POS software. POS systems these days have come a long way from the early ones and do much more work. In fact the system now do so much more that the POS element has now become just one more module in amongst many others, but it is none the less an important part of each business. POS systems usually work using infrared bar code readers and a register are connected to a computer terminal. For a grocery store, the customer places the items on a conveyer belt; the clerk then scans the items with the use of the infrared bar code reader. Besides bar code readers, a UPC can also be input directly into the cash register or computer. Sometimes if a bar code is unreadable, the assistant will manually input the code using a keypad. At this time, the price of the item appears on the screen and is added to the total of all items purchased, however on the back end of the system, lots of data including all the information about the product (the price, size, brand name, etc) and the time and date of the purchase is recorded onto the computer for later analysis. This study aims to design a Point of Sale System for E.C. New Deal Supermart. The researchers have noticed that the business needs to upgrade their current system already.
The said business has been fast developing but still, they are using old cash registers. At the checkout counters, the clerk manually inputs the prices of the products being purchased. The register then adds up the total price of all the products purchased and prints a receipt. The problem is the products being purchased are not being identified during the check out and even at the official receipt. This could be a source of so many errors.
First, the process of manually typing the prices is inconveniently slow and gives a big space for human errors. This causes delay on checkout counters, especially on rush hours. Plus, human errors can cause further delay on the counters. This problem negatively affects the quality of customer service of the business. Second is, the grocery store doesn’t have a database of all the products that the retailers have. Because of this, reports should be done manually and this makes it difficult to make accurate reports.

Statement of Objectives The researchers aim to design a Point of Sale System for E.C. New Deal Supermart and meet the following objectives: 1. To identify existing process of E.C. New Deal Supermart in terms of point of sale monitoring. 2. To identify hardware and software requirements of the system. 3. To provide identify security features of the system.

Significance of the Study
The development of Point of Sale (POS) System for E.C. New Deal Supermart is projected to be beneficial to the following:
Owner. The POS System shall significantly bring innovation to traditional processes of sales and transactions management, improving the quality of customer service and provide accurate and reliable reports for analysis.
Customers. The customers will no longer have to wait in long lines because of the slow services. And they will be provided with better, accurate and reliable receipts.
Researchers. This study also benefits the researchers in way that the researchers gain more knowledge about the operations of the company through this sample training in system analysis.
Future researchers. This study will serve as reference for future researchers who are interested in developing Point of Sale Systems.
Scope and Limitations This study is mainly about the design of a point of sale system for E.C. New Deal Supermart. The researchers will concentrate on eliminating the current problems of the existing processes being used by the business. This study focuses on the design of an accurate and fast system for the company. The system will also provide a secured database of products and sales information and automated printing of receipts and reports for future analysis. The limitations of the study include accounting purposes and automatic adjustment in the occurrence of hardware failure. Definition of Terms The following terms are defined for better understanding of the readers.
Cash Register. The main job of an electronic cash register is to record the sale of goods, adding up the total of the order, calculating sales tax, and providing a permanent printed record of the sale both for the customer and for the vendor for tax, financial, and inventory record keeping.
Clerk. A person employed in an office or bank to keep records and accounts and to undertake other routine administrative duties.
Payment. The action or process of paying someone or something, or of being paid.
Point of sale. It is the location where a transaction occurs. A “checkout” refers to a POS terminal or more generally to the hardware and software used for checkouts, the equivalent of an electronic cash register.
Receipt. It is a written acknowledgment that a specified article or sum of money has been received as an exchange for goods or services. The receipt is evidence of purchase of the property or service obtained in the exchange.
Sales. It is the pinnacle activity involved in the selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of commercial activity.
Security. In information technology, security is the protection of information assets through the use of technology, processes, and training.
System. An organized, purposeful structure regarded as a whole and consisting of interrelated and interdependent elements (components, entities, factors, members, parts etc.).