The Epicor Retail division of global business software solution provider Epicor Software Corporation provides solutions for retailers seeking to streamline processes, integrate channels, and leverage intelligence  in a variety of industries including apparel, footwear, discount, general merchandise, automotive aftermarket, lumber and building materials, nursery, and pharmacy. Epicor is the retail technology partner of choice for thousands of retailers—from Aeropostale, Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, and Build-A-Bear Workshop, to General Nutrition Centers, True Value Company, and Under Armour ( more details here).

New Epicor Retail Strategy
Early in 2013, Epicor unveiled a multi-year strategic plan to grow its market share and expand its global footprint in the retail technology space. While Epicor is recognized as the No.1 provider of point of sale (POS) software among the top 250 largest specialty soft goods and hard goods retailers by IHL Group, the multi-year strategic plan was designed to enable Epicor to maintain and grow its leadership position. Initially, Epicor has been focused on the following four strategic priorities: global expansion, cross-channel execution, and continuing investments in both POS and enterprise cloud technology.

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Retailers are vital to the global economy, responsible for 18 percent of the US GDP while supporting more than 41 million jobs in the US alone. It’s no secret that Microsoft Dynamics AX has marked retail as one of its focus industries, and early in 2013 Microsoft announced the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail that offers new capabilities to help retailers deliver a complete shopping experience through search-based e-commerce, new point of sale (POS) capabilities, and an omni-channel commerce engine.

But many important functional pieces will still have to be delivered by partners. Most recently, EdgeAX, a unit of Visionet Systems, Inc., announced the general availability of its apparel product lifecycle management (PLM) solution that is embedded in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and harnesses the underlying technology.

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QAD Inc. continues to gain new customers via its relatively autonomous divisions, such as Precision Software for transportation management, and the recently acquired DynaSys for supply chain management (SCM) and CEBOS for quality management. QAD expects all of those products to carry their own weight and continue to sell to non-QAD enterprise resource planning (ERP) customers (in addition to cross-selling to QAD ERP customers).

Most recently, DynaSys, a division that provides solutions for demand and supply chain planning, announced that the RAJA Group has implemented DynaSys n.SKEP Retail Planning to help its growth strategy. The European distributor of packaging, business supplies, and consumables deployed DynaSys n.SKEP Retail Planning “Ready To Plan” (RTP) solution as part of its plan to upgrade its IT systems.

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At the NRF BIG Retail Show 2013, a new relationship was announced between Kronos and Manhattan Associates to help retailers profitably integrate their physical stores into their digital selling strategy. The idea is to allow retailers to increase customer satisfaction and drive sales by freeing up trapped inventory in the store and elsewhere in the upstream supply chain, while managing labor costs.

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Epicor has introduced Epicor Retail CRM 7.0, which includes improved customer views, loyalty program functionality, sophisticated query tools, and support for multidivisional retail enterprises. Read the rest of this entry »

NCR Corporation is global technology company helping the world connect, interact, and transact with business. NCR’s assisted- and self-service solutions and accompanying support services address the needs of retail, financial, travel, hospitality, gaming, public sector, telecom carriers, and equipment organizations in more than 100 countries. Recently, the company announced its intention to acquire Retalix.

On January 14, 2013, at the upcoming National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show, NCR’s Chris Lybeer will be presenting findings and insights on omni-channel retail from both the shopper and retailer perspectives. The presentation is based on a nine-country survey of shoppers and retailers NCR conducted as well as from Lybeer’s own experiences in the retail world and other industry insights. Lybeer will also discuss how leading retailers today are using innovative technology to meet consumer demand for mobile-enhanced shopping, personalized offers, and integration across channels to deliver superior shopping experiences and earn a greater share of wallet.

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In anticipation of the upcoming NRF 2013 event, Epicor has announced that specialty retailer A.C. Moore has selected and implemented Epicor Retail Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to strengthen customer relations and support future loyalty and reward initiatives. With 141 stores along the US East Coast, A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, Inc., in addition to offering traditional craft products, is well-known for its selection of scrapbooking, jewelry, floral, yarn, art supplies, children’s craft kits and educational toys, and ready-made frames and custom framing.

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In November 2012, Revionics, Inc., a cloud-based provider of merchandise optimization solutions, acquired SkuLoop, a provider of social commerce-driven promotions for retailers and consumer brands, from GIIV, Inc. Revionics’ solutions use predictive analytics and demand-based science to help retailers obtain the best results across all touchpoints in the multi-channel shopping realm—online, in-store, social, and mobile—by  aiding with decisions in product, price, promotion, placement, and space allocation. Read the rest of this entry »

The traditional Microsoft Dynamics Fall Analyst Event (FAE) 2012 started with a tour of the flagship Microsoft Store in an opulent mall in Bellevue, WA, where Windows 8 and Surface were all the rage. Read the rest of this entry »

On November 1, 2012, RedPrairie Corporation and JDA Software announced their merger. Under the terms of the agreement, the entities affiliated with RedPrairie will effect a cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of JDA common stock for $45 per share. My initial positive and negative thoughts on the merger were outlined in Part One of this blog series, while Part Two discussed how the merger might work and some points to consider when evaluating the merger.

After any merger of two large companies in a specific market, there is inevitably a shift in the market landscape, and opportunities become available that a savvy competitor will take advantage of. A look at the current state of the SCM market reveals that we need much more innovation than consolidation in the market, such as new solutions and capabilities in addition to “upgrades” and increased ease of use. RedPrairie/JDA will now have to be focused on product family rationalization, stabilizing their employee base, and retaining customers. But at the same time the smaller vendors in the space such as Logility, Manhattan Associates, Kinaxis, E2open, and ToolsGroup, will, if they’re smart, be focused on innovation, new customers, customer success, and growth—real growth on a global basis.

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US-based retail hardware and software giant NCR has agreed to pay approximately $650 million to acquire Retalix, a retail technology company.

NCR management is using many elliptical phrases about “strengthening strategy,” “commitment to delivering solutions,” and “improving business processes and enabling experiences,” but there were no clearly stated reasons for the deal. Read the rest of this entry »

Cabela’s, the world’s largest direct marketer of hunting, fishing, camping, and related outdoor merchandise, has chosen PTC Windchill FlexPLM software, PTC’s product lifecycle management (PLM) solution for retail. The company will be using PTC’s PLM solutions to manage the entire life cycle of its apparel products from conception, through design, technical design, sourcing, and manufacturing, to commercialization. Read the rest of this entry »

Today Oracle unveiled some of the details of its new contract with Finish Line, Inc.—one of the leading US-based retailers of sports footware, apparel, and accessories. This retail chain will acquire a whole range of Oracle Retail software solutions, including Oracle Retail Merchandising, Planning, and Stores. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bentley Group is one of Canada’s largest luggage and bags retailers, with stores located in practically every mall across the country. It operates more than 400 retail stores and has a central distribution center, and it has selected Oracle Retail solutions for its operations. Read the rest of this entry »

Dassault Systèmes touts Perfect Shelf as a game-changing industry solution experience for consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and retail companies. It seems to be a rebranding of the 3DVIA Store offering. Read the rest of this entry »