Using fuzzy logic in business

Abstract

Nowadays, the trader is forced to navigate a plethora of information about the products it has to offer. For the customer, some characteristics of a product are more important than others. The salesperson must consider this information. Therefore, sales-people often use computers in order to serve customers quickly. Conventional programming languages are based on Boolean logic. They are well suited to develop systems whose behaviour can be well represented by mathematical models. However, in terms of developing systems that mimic human-like decision-making, mathematical models fall short. Human judgment and evaluation neither follows Boolean logic, nor any other conventional mathematical discipline. This paper seeks to show the benefits of using fuzzy logic in trading. It shows a simple and very fast system that demonstrates how to select a suitable lawn mower, according to customer requirements and preferences. The proposed system can then be used on any offered range. The benefits of such a system are then confronted with the opinions of sales-people themselves. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.