12/13/2024

Requirements analysis CA2

Customer Insights and Sales Analytics System (CISAS)
for SmartMart Limited
 Table of Contents
1. Project Background ............................................................................................................................... 2
1.1. Introduction to the Project.............................................................................................................. 2
1.2. Goals: ............................................................................................................................................ 2
1.2.1. Objectives: ................................................................................................................................. 2
1.2.2. Key Stakeholders: ...................................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Requirement for Enhanced Analytical Capabilities ......................................................................... 2
2. Requirements Elicitation Plan ................................................................................................................ 3
2.1. Plan and Timeline for Gathering System Requirements .................................................................. 3
2.1.1. Overview of the Plan: ................................................................................................................. 3
2.2. Selected Elicitation Techniques ..................................................................................................... 3
2.2.1. Interviews................................................................................................................................... 3
2.2.2. Workshops ................................................................................................................................. 3
2.3. Operational Data Schema ............................................................................................................... 4
2.3.1. Logical Schema (UML) and Rationale ......................................................................................... 4
2.3.2. User stories. ............................................................................................................................... 7

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1. Project Background
1.1. Introduction to the Project
The project pertains to developing a Customer Insights and Sales Analytics System, CISAS for a mid-
sized retail company, SmartMart Ltd. The said SmartMart Ltd. is a retail chain store operating in several
cities selling groceries, electronics, clothes, among other products.
The system will be an analytics tool that will help the organization to have a deep analysis of customer
behavior, observation of sales trends, and efficient inventory management. CISAS combines data from
point-of-sales systems, customer feedback, and market trends from outside sources into one single,
unified dashboard.
1.2. Goals:
▪ To deliver an actionable insight into customer purchasing patterns for making effective
decisions.
▪ Improving Sales forecasting and maintaining inventories
▪ Enhance customer satisfaction by better focused marketing campaigns.
1.2.1. Objectives:
i. Design an eye-catching dashboard that shows key performance indicators, such as sales trends,
best- selling products, and customer demographics.
ii. Include predictive analytics that will forecast demand for products and customer preference.
iii. 3. Provide management with the ability to generate comprehensive reports about store
performance by location.
1.2.2. Key Stakeholders:
o Management: Requires high-level summaries and reports to drive high-level decisions.
o Developers: Will be responsible for designing and building the system.
o Store Managers: Require operational insights to optimize in-store performance.
o End-Users: The marketing team should use customer insights for the appropriate campaigns.
o The IT support staff should perform all the system maintenance updates.

1.3. Requirement for Enhanced Analytical Capabilities

Currently, SmartMart Ltd relies on a simple reporting tool that lacks deep insights into customer
behavior and market trends. At the growing scale of operations, the absence of advanced analytics
has resulted in:
o Overstocking or understocking of inventories.
o Loss of opportunities for focused promotions.
o Inadequate resource utilization across stores.

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 This means CISAS will bridge these gaps through the facilitation of analytics on data to discover the
hidden patterns of automation of the reporting processes, and then support data-driven decisions.
Enhanced analytics capabilities enable SmartMart to be competitive in the retail market.

2. Requirements Elicitation Plan

2.1. Plan and Timeline for Gathering System Requirements
2.1.1. Overview of the Plan:
The elicitation process will take four weeks to capture all system requirements using
different techniques to ensure accuracy and clarity. The timeline and methods are sequenced as
follows:

Phase Activity Timeline Justification

Week 1 Preliminary Research: Day 1–Day To understand the current tools in
Document analysis of existing 5 use, identify gaps, and
systems and workflows set a foundation for informed
discussions.
Week 2 Stakeholder Interviews- Day 6–Day Detailed expectations of users, pain
Management, IT staff, 10 points, and high-level business goals.
Marketing, and Store
Managers
Week 3 Workshops with Key Day 11–Day Collaboration, findings validation,
Stakeholders 15 and refining the
requirements together.
Week 4 Prototyping and Feedback: Day 16–Day Visualize the system and confirm
Mock-up presentation to 20 whether the proposed solution
stakeholders for validation of meets the needs of the stakeholders.
elicited requirements
2.2. Selected Elicitation Techniques
2.2.1. Interviews
Interviews with management, IT staff, and store managers individually

Rationale:

▪ The stakeholders are at ease to state their requirements and preferences, problems.
▪ Capture comprehensive insights of specific functional and non-functional requirements

2.2.2. Workshops
Conduct group discussions across the organization to refine the requirements towards consensus

Rationale:

▪ Allows brainstorming to be carried out regarding the specifics of the system's features.

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 ▪ Resolve conflicting requirements and align everybody to one direction.
Mixing interviewing and workshops allows the process to leverage both individual responses and group
consensus, fostering all-around and validated requirements of the project.

Questions for Interviews/Surveys/Questionnaires

Here are five sample questions directed at the client's IT department and associated job functions:

i. What technical challenges or limitations have you encountered with the current system, and how
do these impact daily operations?

Objective: Identify system constraints and pain points.

ii. What kind of data sources does your department currently manage, and what are the challenges
in integrating them for analytics?

(Objective: Identify needs for data integration)

iii. What are some of the tools or platforms you use for analytics or reporting, and why?

Objective: Get sense of technical preferences and any familiarity with tools.

iv. What are the expected periods of peak usage of the system, and are there any known
performance issues at such times?

(Objective: Collect performance requirements)

v. What are the currently followed security and access control practices, and what others would
you like to see added to secure the new system?

(Goal: Identify security requirements and concerns.)

2.3. Operational Data Schema

2.3.1. Logical Schema (UML) and Rationale
The logical schema for SmartMart Ltd will center around core operational data that is associated with
sales, inventory management, and customer management. The schema will have the following key
entities:

• Customers: Includes customer information such as personal data and purchase history.
• Products: Contains information on products: price, quantity in stock, and category.

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 • Sales: Logs transactions, including date, time, and payment method.
• Stores: Represents the different stores of SmartMart Ltd.
• Employees: Contains data regarding employees, their positions, and sales figures.

Justification:

This schema captures all the fundamental relationships required by SmartMart for its analytical needs,
such as understanding customer behavior, monitoring inventory, and analyzing sales trends across
stores.

Use case diagram.

Sequence diagram.

ER diagram.

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 Use Cases

i. Generate Sales Reports

o Actor: Management
o Description: Allows management to generate sales reports by period, product category, or store
location.
o Precondition: Sales data must be registered in the system.
o Postcondition: A report will be generated, which may be exported.
ii. Analyze Customer Buying Patterns
o Actor: Marketing Team
o Description: Analyzes customer purchase trends through sales history to find top-selling
products and seasonal trends.
o Precondition: The system should have recorded the customer's purchase history already.
o Postcondition: Insights are generated to support targeted campaigns.
iii. Monitor Inventory Levels
o Actor: Store Managers
o Description: Allows managers to see inventory levels in real-time and receive alerts for low-
stock items.
o Precondition: Product stock levels are to be aligned with the system.
o Postcondition: Inventory warnings are generated and stock level adjustments can be triggered.
iv. Tailored Marketing Campaigns
o Actor: Marketing Team
o description: Uses customer demographic and purchase data to recommend personalized
marketing offers.
o Precondition: Customer data and analytics engine is up and running.
o Postcondition: it is possible to create and send campaigns to customers.

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 v. Performance Monitoring Across Stores
o Actor: Management
o Description: This will track performance by store location, including sales volume, profitability,
and customer footfall.
o Precondition: Store-specific sales data must be available.
o Postcondition: Performance dashboards are updated.
vi. Forecast Demand for Products
o Actor: Store Managers, Supply Chain Team
o Description: It uses predictive analytics to project future demand of the products based on past
data and trends.
o Precondition: There must be enough past sales data.
o Postcondition: Demand forecasts are shown.
vii. Create KPI Dashboards
o Actor: Management, Store Managers
o Description: Visual dashboards that summarize key KPIs, such as revenue, top-selling products,
and customer satisfaction scores.
o Preconditions: Integration of sales, inventory, and customer feedback data.
o Postcondition: Available interactive dashboards for decision-making.
2.3.2. User stories.
a. Sales Reporting
As a manager,
I would like to generate the reports of sales for a given period. So that I can view the revenue
trends and make business decisions.

Background: The managers have to review the performance of their stores/areas. Reviewing
includes analyzing the sales figures by date, product categories, and locations of the stores.

Tasks Involved:

• Choosing the date range, store(s) and level of data detail (day, week, for example).
• Run the report, then visualize the data using tables, charts, or graphs.
• Export the Report for Presentations or Documentation.

Expected Outcomes: The manager is given a concise summary of all the sales data in terms
of either better times or areas to improve.

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 Acceptance Criteria:

• It allows filtration by store, product category, and time period.

• Reports are created in under 5 seconds and can be exported to numerous formats.
b. Customer Insights

Being part of the marketing team, I would like to view Customer Purchase Trends.

so that I can have focused marketing campaigns.

Background: In order for marketing teams to create targeted campaigns, they need actionable
data, such as the products purchased most or peak purchase times.

Tasks Included:

• Analyzing sales data to identify recurring patterns or preferences.

• It can be segmented based on customer-demographic characteristics and purchasing
behavior.
• Campaign design from the findings in order to meet customer needs.
Expected Outcomes: Detailed report, so that the team can create focused and effective
marketing plans.

Acceptance Criteria:

• Trends may also be displayed in a summarized manner using a pie chart or bar graphs.
• Filters should be added for segmenting customers by location, age group, and purchase
frequency.
c. Stock Alerts

As a store manager,

I would like to be alerted when the stock level is low. So that I can restock in due course.

Background: Stockouts must be avoided in order to keep the customers satisfied and sales
goals met. Managers need real-time alerts to restock products before they run out.

Tasks Included:

• Set the stock level warning thresholds.

• Receive instant notifications for low-stock products.
• View vendor contact information for quick reordering.

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 Expected Outcomes: On-time replenishment of stock ensures that products are always
available to customers.

Acceptance Criteria:

• Notifications are sent as soon as stock is below threshold.

• Alerts Displays details such as Product ID, Product Name, and suggested reorder
quantity.
d. Dashboard Customization

As a manager,

I would like to develop my dashboard in order to display the KPIs for my store. So that I can
focus on the numbers that count.

Dashboard Background: As dashboards are customizable, each manager will have various
priorities on which to focus most—the most relevant information, such as daily sales figures or
inventory updates.

Tasks Involved:

• Drag-and-drop interface for reordering widgets.

• Data source and visual display format selection for each widget.
• Save the customized layout for future sessions.
• Expected Outcomes: One-to-one dashboard showing the most important KPIs at a
glance.
Acceptance Criteria:

• Layouts, adding and removing widgets, and even saving changes are possible for users.
• Customizations are applied consistently to every device.
e. Predictive Analytics:

As a Supply Chain Planner, I need demand forecasting for high-value products.

Therefore, I can efficiently devise the procurement.

Background: It supports the realization of a proper procurement using demand estimation by

considering the sales history, seasonal patterns, and outside factors promoting or holidays.

Jobs Requiring:

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 • Forecasting analysis for the selected products or categories.
• Develop purchasing schedules after the forecasting results are known.
• Compare actual sales vs. forecasted demand for the evaluation of accuracy.
• Expected Benefits: Less chance of stockouts or overstocking through better demand
planning.
Acceptance Criteria:

• Demand forecasting needs to be a minimum of 85% accurate.

• Reports would be able to show contributing factors, such as seasonality or promotions.
f. Sales Employee Performance

As a store manager, I want to track individual employee sales performance. so that I may know
the best performing ones and reward them accordingly.

Background: Managers must evaluate staff performance to reward high achievers and provide
support or training for underperforming employees.

Jobs Involved:

• To view sales data by an employee for a given period.

• Individual performance vs. store averages.
• Exporting performance reports for HR purposes.
• Expected Results: Motivated staff with performance-based incentives and guided staff
development.
Acceptance Criteria:

These include reports on individual sales, average transaction value, and customer satisfaction
scores.

Data is refreshed in real time.

g. Multi-Store Comparison

As a regional manager, I want to compare performance across stores. So that I can focus on
areas to improve.

Background: The regional manager oversees multiple stores and would need aggregated
information for comparative purposes of the performance indicators—sales volume and
profitability, for instance.

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 Tasks Involved:

• Store Selection and Metrics to Compare.

• Looking at data for patterns or anomalies.
• Providing store managers with specific recommendations based on insights.
• Expected Outcomes: Improved performance for all stores by using data-driven
recommendations.
Acceptance Criteria:

• Comparisons are shown in graphical formats (bar charts, line graphs).

• Filters allow narrowing results by date or product category.
h. Strong User Authentication

As an IT administrator, I need a secure login system with role-based access. Some system
features are only accessible to authorized users.

Background: Role-Based Access ensures that sensitive data (like financial reports) are only
accessed by relevant users.

Tasks Involved:

• Setting up roles and permissions in the system.

• Enforce strong password policies.
• Logging all login attempts for auditing.
Expected Outcomes: Better security of data and compliance with standards on privacy.

Acceptance Criteria:

• Roles: Manager, Store Manager, and IT Administrator.

• Unauthorized users cannot access restricted features or data.

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