¶ … Systems for a Retail Store Nostalgic Record Store Information Systems Proposal

Benefits and Drawbacks of Information Systems

Comparison of Cost and Benefits

Any new store will require a series of accounting, e-commerce, finance, customer relationship management (CRM), pricing and services applications to ensure it stays profitable. When the products being sold are highly unique, as is the case with nostalgic music, the role of these systems becomes even more critical. It is the goal of this proposal to define five specific systems needed to operate the store profitably, in addition to listing the strengths and weaknesses of each. The five systems needed to successfully run the nostalgic record store include:

Small Business Accounting System

Low-end, preferably Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based CRM system

E-Commerce Web Store

Transaction-oriented Point-Of-Sales System

Merchandise Inventory Management and Pricing Software System

Both the benefits and drawbacks of each of these systems are analyzed in this proposal.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Information Systems

Each of the five systems mentioned in this proposal fulfills a vital function for the overall profitable operations of the store. The benefits and drawbacks of each are analyzed here.

The Small Business Accounting System is crucial for tracking expenses, being able to generate financial statements and determining if the store is making a profit or not. It is highly advisable to use an online system such as SAP OnDemand or NetSuite, two very wlel-known and respected systems that specialize in small business accounting. Both...

The benefits of these systems include the ease of use, relatively rapid time to get them up and running, and the low cost of maintenance. The disadvantages are that they are often difficult to keep updates with the latest cost information, a challenge for computer-based accounting systems for decades (Wichmann, 1983). In addition there is the downside risk of not having Internet access when reports need to be run. The second system is the low-end Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based CRM system. The advantages of this type of system includes the ability to track customer purchases, see what customers are most and least interested in, and also create more effective marketing campaigns based on insights gained from the analytics modules many CRM systems include. The biggest disadvantages of these types of systems is the continual updates and maintenance they require to be useful, the high costs of maintenance fees for software upgrades, and the lack of adoption in many companies who spend an exceptionally high dollar amount for these systems only to see them not used (Sarapovas, Cvilikas, 2008). The third system the store need is an e-commerce storefront and catalog management system. The advantages of this type of store include the flexibility of selling to nostalgic music fans located far away from the store the potential of using the e-commerce website to also promote the store via social networking, and the ability to launch new music products quickly and get Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the website using specific keywords. The disadvantages of this system including the intensive level of upkeep required to keep the catalogs and content current, the high cost of transaction fees if many…