Introduction

Main objective of this case study is to show how IT systems work in supermarkets. First, we are
introduced to topic and the ongoing action and everything connected with it. Later trough case
study we are introduced to pros and cons of the changes as well as with IT system.
In this case study, there are many stakeholders involved that are affected by implementation of
new IT systems and changes that it brings. Owners of supermarkets are stakeholders because
they are the ones that founded ASI. Their benefit for the implementation of IT system is profit.
Supermarket managers are another group of stakeholders and they have direct involvement with
the work of each supermarket. They have the biggest impact on implementing new systems,
because they have to learn how to operate them and how to get their workers familiar with it.
With that kind of control of knowing what their customers buy, they are able to make decision
that will be more profitable for their business. Customers are the most important group of
stakeholders because they are the ones for whom these supermarkets exist and their money
sustains them. The new IT system was developed for the customers and its goal is to attract them
and make them stay within this chain of supermarkets. Once you are somehow involved and
attached to something, you tend to stay there and so do customers. With the loyalty cards, they
will always go to these supermarkets because they will get certain points and better offers there.
Social and ethnical issues
There are not many social and ethical issues with the implementation of this system, however if
there is only a few of them, that doesnt mean that those that exist are of little importance. Even
though there are few, they are quite big. The main issue is the issue of privacy of customers. With
the access that the ASI has to customers loyalty cards, customers do not know how much
information is being collected about them and their purchases. ASI has to develop and ensure
that their customers are protected, and that data used is anonymized.
IT system
Each store is currently operated independently using local area networks and EPOS (Electronic
Point of Sale) and also stock control systems. To communicate with suppliers email, online
shopping and phone calls as well as faxes are used. The ASI intends to bring significant changes
that would improve efficiency of the supermarket, thus increasing profits. First proposed change
is the introduction of the ASI Loyalty card and the system that goes along with it. The card could
function using the current IT system with minor changes considering software that operates it as
it would have a bar code that can be scanned using current hardware found in stores. The ASI
card will reward its users by points that can be used to make free purchases (when enough are
collected).The card also records data about the purchase, the user and location which enables ASI
to make statistics which links it to Big data analysis. In order to produce those statistics the

company will cooperate with the SUSA analytics. The data collected will be used to improve
services and profits of course.

Definitions:
Business Intelligence or BI software, is used is to analyze business data to better understand an
organization's strengths and weaknesses. It enables an organization's management to better see
the relationship between different data for better decision-making and optimal deployment of
resources.
Clustering analysis is grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group
(called a cluster) are more similar to each other than to those in other groups (clusters). It is used
for statistical data analysis in machine learning, pattern recognition, image analysis, information
retrieval, and bioinformatics.
Data analytics (DA) is the science of examining raw data with the purpose of drawing
conclusions about that information. It is used in many industries to allow companies and
organization to make better business decisions
Data extrapolation is a tactical technique of inferring unknown from the known. It attempts to
predict future data by relying on historical data
Data mining is Sifting through very large amounts of data for useful information. It uses artificial
intelligence techniques, neural networks, and advanced statistical tools ( cluster analysis).
Data querying is a piece of code (a query) that is sent to a database in order to get information
back from the database
Data visualization is a part of descriptive statistics. It involves the creation and study of the
visual representation of data, meaning "information that has been abstracted in some schematic
form, including attributes or variables for the units of information
Data warehouse is a massive database serving as a centralized repository of all data generated by
all departments and units of a large organization.
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process refers to a process in database usage and especially in
data warehousing that: extracts data from outside sources, transforms it to fit operational needs,
which can include quality levels, loads it into the end target (database, more specifically,
operational data store, data mart, or data warehouse)

A statistical hypothesis test is a method of statistical inference using data from a scientific study.
In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it has been predicted as unlikely to have
occurred by chance alone, according to a pre-determined threshold probability, the significance
level.

Targeted advertising is a type of advertising whereby advertisements are placed so as to reach

consumers based on various traits such as demographics, psychographics, behavioral variables.

Targeted marketing identifying a target market after detailed research, and developing specific
marketing campaigns focused at it
Behavioral marketing - As opposed to direct marketing, where advertisers send the same
message to everyoneand expect a large portion of those people to reject the message
behavioral marketing takes online information and uses it to tailor the message to the user.
Comparing ASI to real-life supermarket chain KONZUM
Konzum is a supermarket chain that is present on the Balkan region and it is present in three
countries. It is the biggest supermarket chain in the region. Today it also operates on customer
gift cards, very similar to ASI Loyalty cards. Despite recording the data about the purchase
which is used to make statistics and analysis, also gives reward points to customers. When
customers accumulate certain amount of points they are given special discounts, free purchases
and gifts. Regardless of KONZUM being a big supermarket chain nowadays, it started off as a
small family owned supermarket, which enlarged as a business and both united and purchased
other supermarkets to form a chain. This gave it better benefits for purchasing goods as they are
available in larger quantities and at cheaper prices. Gift card schemes are still being improved to
give better benefits to long term loyal customers. The gift card system has been a great success
for Konzum and it is highly likely that ASI supermarket chain will find it rewarding for its
business as well as Konzum did. Of course to achieve this investment to IT system is required
and ASI needs to pay attention to it as well as Konzum did. The rest is sure that this type of cards
is a very popular mean of improving service and resource allocation as statistic gathered from
such cards are used to improve efficiency. In short ASI has a long path before it if its to reach
the level Konzum reached today. In the next few paragraphs we will examine more in detail
Konzum gift cards and ASI loyal gift cards and compare their IT system.
Make a purchase at any of Konzum shop using your MultiPlusCard card after bills wait a coupon
discount at checkout of Konzum stores. What type of discounts on the coupons work? To reward
MultiPlusCard users, coupons after bills bring additional saving potential, such as discounts on

particular products, discount on their purchase and the discount on the product chosen by the
customer from a certain group of products. Coupon can be used once the very next day after the
purchase was made on the basis that the coupon discount is up to date highlighted on the coupon,
only with a MultiPlusCard card.
How to earn points: 1. MultiPlusCard card is scanned whenever you buy at Konzum, Tisak or
Tisak Media Center, Kozmo or Atlas 2. Each purschase with your MasterCard and Maestro cards
Zagreb Bank at any point of sale in the country and abroad 3. Any extra payment on account
vouchers at Croatian Telecom, Simpa account or MultiPlus mobile account
How to use your points: Every three months, when you accumulate enough points coupons are
delivered to your home. Take advantage of coupons for what you love, or you need the most, at
retail outlets of Konzum and partners: Konzums, Kozmos, Tisak Media, Atlas or convert your
points in your account at the rate coupons Croatian Telecom or Simpa account.
Security issues
Of course maintaining a larger IT system has its own risks. And one potentially harmful and very
dangerous thing that ASI should take care of is security. Securing big data like the one collected
using IT systems in stores and ASI loyalty card may prove to be a challenge as the data itself is
so big that it must be stored on multiple places, this increases the risk of data leakage as more
people are required to maintain those data points and have access to it. Of course this leads to
another problem which also concerns data access. ASI must be careful to whom to trust and to
who to give access and in case of big data, the control of access is often undermined and put
aside. The best solution which is a bit more expensive is to provide employees access only to the
data they need to work. This is a so called monitoring access system and different jobs within the
company have different limitations of data. To solve all these problem safeguards should be
employed as it is there profession to secure the data and prevent any potential damage that could
put ASI out of business.