Evaluating the Importance of an IS

Electronic and mobile commerce information systems have an impact on our lives every day, sometimes in ways we don’t even realize. Electronic commerce allows for employees and other individuals to conduct business through computers, phones, or any other means that uses an electronic device. Whenever someone orders an application on their I-phone, downloads a song on I-tunes, or downloads a book for their Kindle, they just conducted an E-business transaction. Often times the business already has the payment information stored securely, so you don’t even have to reach for your wallet to finish the transaction. This provides for increased customer satisfaction due to the convenience. Increased satisfaction usually means a customer will continue to purchase your items in the future. Aside of individual customers, many companies and stores now use electronic commerce information systems to help boost business and keep it running smoothly.

What good is a store if no items are on the shelves? The company would lose business to competitors and possibly drop customers for good. Electronic information systems allow for inventories to stay full and shelves well stocked. For example, stores can now order merchandise for the shelves without having to do an inventory every week to determine what items are needed. The store I work at has a system that automatically keeps track of quantity on hand, and when they get low, if the item will still be carried, it gets automatically ordered and shipped to the store within a few weeks. They are in the process of rolling out a new information system that will allow customers to special order large quantities of items and have them in the store within two weeks. In the past, customers would have to place an order and hope it came in within four weeks, or search countless stores around the area looking for more of the required item. This will without a doubt help the company increase sales that it may have lost to competitors due to low inventories.

Looking at the components of an information system, input, processing, output, and feedback, it is easy to breakdown what parts of this information system at my job fall under each category. The input would be the customers special order or the system automatically placing the order for the low item. The processing is when it actually gets to the warehouse and the employees ship the item. The output of this system is when the customer actually receives the special order, or when the delivery arrives. Feedback could possibly be if the order was late, the customer could complain and the management would have to tweak the system in order to meet future needs and prevent failures.