IPA FE Subject A 2026 Question 16
A question IPA Japan published in 令和８年度 基本情報技術者試験 科目A 公開問題 問16, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
Which of the following is an example of IT utilization by a retailer for realizing an omni-channel strategy?
Explanation
Customer and inventory information shared across every customer contact point — omni-channel means all channels work as one store for the customer.
An omni-channel strategy integrates every point at which a customer deals with the retailer: physical stores, the online store, the call center, apps. Because customer and inventory information is managed centrally and shared, a customer can, for example, check stock online and collect in a store, or return an online purchase at a counter, and is recognized the same way everywhere. The aim is a seamless, convenient buying experience.
Answer (a)
Why not others:
- •(b) — electronically exchanging order, shipping, billing and payment data is EDI, which streamlines business-to-business transactions, not the customer's experience across channels
- •(c) — monitoring stores centrally through camera images improves store operations but involves no customer channel at all
- •(d) — analyzing POS data for best-sellers and co-purchase rates to plan merchandise and shelves is POS (market basket) analysis within the store channel
Key rule: Omni-channel = all customer touchpoints integrated around shared customer and inventory data; multichannel merely offers several separate channels.
Business Industry · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.