SAP Demonstrates Strong Leadership in Store Solutions Space

by SAP AG

Demonstrating its ongoing success in the retail industry, SAP AG today announced strong customer adoption of point-of-sale (POS) applications from the SAP for Retail solution portfolio. An increasing number of retail customers are choosing store solutions from SAP over competing vendor technologies, adding to SAP's leadership position in the retail software market. Among them is Jo-Ann Stores Inc., a leading national fabric and craft retailer, which has selected SAP(R) Transactionware General Merchandise (formerly Triversity Transactionware) to improve customer experience as well as store productivity through increased functionality and improved sales and customer data. The announcement was made at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Conference, being held in New York, NY, January 15-17.

Today, more than 250 customers worldwide, including Kenneth Cole, Sephora, The Beer Store (Brewers Retail Inc.), The Body Shop International, Tommy Hilfiger, Virgin Entertainment and Wawa, are utilizing store solutions from SAP to deliver a best-in-class customer experience while optimizing operating efficiencies and increasing profitability. SAP's highly flexible solutions for point-of-sale processes are a core part of the SAP for Retail portfolio, a tightly integrated solution set empowered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform. Comprising software such as SAP(R) POS Data Management and SAP Transactionware applications, SAP's powerful set of POS applications enables retailers of all sizes and industry segments around the world to address their specific store- level business challenges with flexible, feature-rich store solutions.

Jo-Ann Stores, already running financials and merchandise management applications from SAP, is implementing POS software from SAP as part of an overall strategy to expand its footprint.

"The SAP advantage is a completely integrated solution, which will allow us to further integrate SAP Transactionware General Merchandise with our existing retail and logistics suite," said Kevin Stack, CIO, Jo-Ann Stores. "We look forward to continuing our strategic partnership with SAP, which will help us better manage inventory as well as enhance customer service, while improving sales."

POS Means Business

The Beer Store, based in Ontario, Canada, selected SAP(R) Transactionware Enterprise for its easy-to-use configuration tool and business rules engine to optimize pricing, discounts, promotions, tender types and bottle returns for recycling as well as to gain real-time visibility. The Beer Store is currently running the software in a number of its stores.

"After seeing many POS applications over the years we remain particularly impressed with the capabilities and functionality of SAP Transactionware Enterprise," said Glenn Wood, director, IS, The Beer Store.

Sephora, which implemented SAP Transactionware General Merchandise in 2005, has improved service to its customers in several ways, including faster transactions and more customer-friendly returns.

"We have been successfully using POS software from SAP to maintain a high level of customer intimacy," said Janet Hanson, CIO, Sephora. "Furthermore, the system is easy and intuitive for employees to use, again resulting in better customer service."

Industry Analysts Recognize POS Software From SAP

Industry analysts have named SAP as a leading independent software vendor in the store solutions space and see the POS element of these solutions as a strong focus for the retail market through 2009. In a November 2006 report, AMR Research predicts that "retailers plan tremendous POS software expenditures through 2009." As a market leader in this space, SAP is prepared for this prediction and is committed to extending its leadership by driving continued innovation and investing in point-of-sale applications. Retailers say POS software has the greatest impact on store productivity among all store-centric applications, according to AMR Research in the same report, which cites, "To increase store productivity and improve customer service, 83 percent of retailers plan to upgrade to advanced POS architectures over the next 36 months."

SAP Transactionware was recognized by Forrester Research as having some of the strongest in-store inventory management capabilities within the POS category. "SAP Transactionware has long been SAP's trophy app for POS, and its capabilities prove that it has earned the title," writes Forrester analyst Nikki Baird in The Forrester Wave(TM): POS Software, Q3 2006 report. "Transactionware is a capable POS product, especially for the high-volume environments it was designed for."

Gartner placed SAP Transactionware General Merchandise in the Leader Quadrant for Retail POS applications for Tier 1 Retailers based on completeness of vision and ability to execute.(1)

"POS applications are strong parts of the SAP family of leading enterprise software solutions and of our customer commitments; and as the analyst reports are confirming, the acquisition and the integration of the Triversity product suite have been successful," said Rick Chavie, senior vice president of Industry Solution Management, Trading, SAP. "SAP's powerful set of POS applications and related store solutions are more robust than ever, standing at the forefront of the industry. We are continuing to invest in these areas as we extend our leadership position in the fast-growing retail market."

For more information, please see the following analyst reports:

• AMR Research, Advanced Point of Sale, Part 1: It's Coming to a Store Near You, November 2006, Authors: Robert Garf, Janet Suleski, and Fenella Sirkisoon; Advanced Point of Sale, Part 2: Which Platform Is Right for You?, December 2006, Authors: Robert Garf and Janet Suleski
• Forrester, The Forrester Wave(TM): POS Software, Q3 2006, September 21, 2006, Author: Nikki Baird
• Gartner Magic Quadrant for Retail Point-of-Sale Applications for Tier 1 Retailers, 2006, July 28, 2006, Authors: Mim Burt, John Davison, Stephen E. Smith

(1) The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted July 28, 2006 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.