foundations for selling windows vista availability and security...

PAYMENTSAvailability and security

WINDOWS VISTAFoundations for selling

SHARING CUSTOMER CARETailoring technology to roles

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40 Retailspeak is published byTudor Rose, 6 Friar LaneLeicester LE1 5RA, United Kingdom.+44 116 222 9900www.tudor-rose.co.uk

ISSN 1753-545X

E-mail: [email protected]: www.retailspeak.com

Produced in association withMicrosoft EMEA.

© 2007 All rights reserved. Alltrademarks or registered trademarksbelong to their respective companies.

No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem or transmitted in any form orby any means, electrical, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise,without prior written permission of thepublisher.

Printed in the UK byStones the Printers.February 2007. Issue 15.

EditorMark Webb

Features Jacqui GriffithsLindsay James

DigestLindsay JamesRebecca Davies

Design and productionKaren FlavelBruce GrahamPaul Robinson

ContributorsTim GruverSandana Kichenane

Advertising enquiriesAndy Clayton-Smith, Partner [email protected]

Paul Simpson, Partner [email protected]

Amandip Singh, Partner [email protected]

Publisher Toby Ingleton

welcome

Welcome to the Spring 2007 edition of Retailspeak.

Electronic signage is making its way into stores in various guisesand we all know that advertising works. But signage is passive. It’sso much more productive to get a customer in front of aninteractive display, either on a PC at home or work, or as part ofan in-store or out-of-store kiosk.

French retailer FNAC has used the new graphical displays enabledby Windows Vista to boost its online store and its in-store kiosks.The customer experience is the same in front of a PC as in theshop. The world’s number two online retailer Otto has also putVista to work to engage fashion shoppers with video clips andlifelike photography.

Windows Vista brings some of the pleasure of store shopping tothe PC screen and it also protects the customer throughout theexperience, including when it comes to secure payment. Whetheronline or in person customers can shop in confidence, whilehaving fun.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue.

Dilip PopatManaging Director, Retail IndustryMicrosoft EMEA

publishing partners

digestRETAIL TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UPOur round-up of retail technology movers and shakersincludes news from NRF in New York, outsourcing for a majorUK supermarket chain and new POS and RFID solutions

lead storyPAYMENT SYSTEMSIt’s all change with the Single European Payments Area andnew data security standards for card payments

featureSEARCHBringing together disjointed IT systems offers theopportunity to deliver pertinent information, in real time, tothe managers who need it

viewpointVISTA by Tim Gruver

DYNAMICS by Sandana Kichenane

technology in actionMerchandise marketing, fraud detection, flexible staffing,system integration and online consumer experience are allfeatured in our case study section.

research and analysisOWN LABEL LEADS THE WAY Stores with lots of own label lines achieve better sales

downtimeCESBill Gates reveals a raft of new consumer technologies

HP is a technologysolutions provider toconsumers, businesses,including leadingretailers andinstitutions globally.The company'sofferings span ITinfrastructure, personalcomputing and accessdevices, global servicesand imaging andprinting.

www.hp.com

Microsoft (NASDAQ‘MSFT’) is the worldleader in software,services and solutionsthat help people andbusinesses realise theirfull potential. Thecompany offers a widerange of products andservices designed toempower peoplethrough great software– anytime, any placeand on any device.

www.microsoft.com

As a total solutionprovider, TOSHIBA TECEurope offers acomplete package fromconsulting and systemdesign to systeminstallation, operationand maintenance ofbarcode printers, RFIDsystems, point of salesystems, cash registers,scales, peripherals andsoftware informationsystems.

www.toshibatec-eu.com

THIS ISSUE

SPR I NG 2007 Retailspeak 2 Retailspeak SPR I NG 2007 3

retail technology round-upD

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Somerfield has signed an outsourcingcontract worth over £18 million withVanco. The virtual network operator willprovide managed telecommunicationsservices across 887 UK sites, including873 stores, 11 depot locations,Somerfield’s HQ and its data centre inBristol.

The contract will see Vanco design,install and manage the Somerfield widearea network (WAN), internet andfirewall services running on Windows2003. Vanco will take over themanagement and maintenance of alllocal area networks (LAN), the PBXestate and the legacy PSTN/ISDN estate,including call minutes. Vanco will alsomigrate and manage all existing thirdparty contracts.

“We needed a proactive provider thatwas able to help us to drive down our ITcosts but could also give us enoughflexibility for future requirements likeVoIP,” said Richard Beale, Somerfield’sprocurement director. “With Vanco’s newnetwork solution we will realisesubstantial cost savings immediately andfurther savings from an annual activenegotiating position. In addition we can

now connect new stores easily and fast.”The Vanco WAN solution includes its

MPLS Matrix for the depots, ethernet forthe head office and private ADSL for thestores. This provides Somerfield with ahighly resilient, scaleable WAN solutionthat facilitates the addition of futureservices such as hosted IP telephony.

“The Somerfield contract shows thateven within a single country the VNOmodel provides a very cost effective and

flexible solution,” said Mark Thompson,Vanco’s MD. “In the fast moving retailmarket you need to be able to adaptquickly to new developments. Vancoprovides enterprises with the requiredflexibility to evolve and grow theirbusiness by not making the network arestraint.”

FURTHER INFO:

www.vanco.com

SOMERFIELD’S NEW VIRTUALNETWORK NOW IN STORE

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Intel, HP and Microsoft havecollaborated on a point of sale solutionthat has been employed at 1,500Staples stores worldwide.

Staples has implemented wirelessFujitsu iPAD devices powered by IntelXScale technology and MicrosoftWindows CE .NET. It deploys Fujitsuplatforms based on the Intel PentiumM processor and Windows XP tohandle a variety of applications at thepoint of sale (POS).

The applications on the handheldsand POS systems have helped increasethe productivity of store associates, aswell as enabling the company toimprove overall customer satisfactionscores and ultimately drive highersales. “Store associates get up-to-the-minute access to corporate data,without having to find a kiosk orleave the floor,” said George Lamson,

director of application developmentat Staples.

“They spend more time selling,driving higher revenues,” Lamsonadded. “If an item isn’t on the shelf,they’re guided through standardprocedures that promote consistencyacross our stores and give thecustomer an easier shoppingexperience. Associates also use theiPAD devices to scan any out-of-stockitems each morning, thus ensuringshelves are replenished quickly. Witha fully-fledged PC at the point of sale,managers can handle more taskswhile out with customers.”

FURTHER INFO:

www.microsoft.com

www.hp.com

www.intel.com

www.fujitsu.com/uk/industries/retail

POINT OF SALE

Intel, HP and Microsoft driveworldwide sales for Staples

BCP has joined forces with Toshiba to launcha wireless point of sale solution for retailersrunning on Windows XP. The wireless solutionmeans that a dedicated till can be quickly andeasily set up alongside promotions, effectivelybecoming a temporary checkout for queuebusting at busy periods.

Following Microsoft’s launch of Windows Vista,Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft ExchangeServer 2007, VCStimeless has launchedColombus.next; a supply chain optimisationand decision-support solution, which is the firstin Europe to integrate Microsoft’s’ latesttechnologies, Windows Vista, .NET, SQL Server2005, Microsoft Office 2007 and serviceoriented architecture.

B2M has updated its mprodigy suite toinclude incident tracking, enhanced supportfor field-based operations, support for multipleregions and time-zones, additional deviceremote controls, support for new device typesand wireless security.

Fiction Factory, the designer andmanufacturer of shop interiors, stands anddisplay units, has recently moved its CADsoftware to CoCreate’s OneSpace Modelling.

The Logic Group has released a packagedsolution that delivers a quick and easy route tomulti-channel, integrated card processing andChip & PIN acceptance. The company’s SmartTransaction Processing Service (Smart-TPS), isdesigned for merchants with between five and100 points of sale. It is a secure packagedservice that has low cost of ownership and iseasy to deploy and operate.

Intermec has launched a reusable RFID tagideal for harsh industrial applications whereruggedness, chemical resistance or extremetemperatures are a factor. The reusable RFIDSmall Rigid Tag can be used thousands oftimes and can be easily applied to a variety ofapplications in supply chain and assetmanagement operations.

Junction Solutions has been named one ofMicrosoft’s National Systems Integrator (NSI)Partners. Microsoft’s NSI Programme consistsof strategic national organisations that havemade significant investments to drive theMicrosoft platform and application business.

Cisco has launched its UnifiedCommunications for Retail solution to helpretailers reduce costs, improve productivity,and provide integrated communicationsthroughout stores. Four retailers have alreadyselected the product, including multinationalsandwich chain Subway and Japan’s largestdepartment store, Mitsukoshi.

At the Living Tomorrow project inBrussels, Wincor Nixdorf is showing what‘shopping tomorrow’ could look like.

Wincor Nixdorf is using a grocery storeto demonstrate how today’s groceryshopping may be developed into anindividual and interactive processbetween retailer and customer. At thestore’s reception terminal customers usethe 180 degree rotatable multimediaterminal, which is built into the receptiondesk, to gather information and receiveoffers from a virtual consultant.

Afterwards, the customer takes ashopping trolley fitted with a PSA(Personal Shopping Assistant). Incollaboration with Wanzl, Wincor Nixdorfis presenting the first cart with a PSA thatis permanently mounted on the cart.Customers identify themselves at thesePSAs using their customer cards. Thesystem guides them through the store,submits personalised offers and can beused to scan their purchases directly.

Products kept in coolers andrefrigerated displays feature RFID chipsattached to the packaging. Electronicshelf displays automatically present

important additional information onproducts and, for example, recommendsuitable wines. If the customer presses abutton on the PSA, the precise bottlerecommended to accompany a productwill be lit up from behind so that it canbe located immediately. To find out moreabout the wine, the customer removesthe bottle from the intelligent wine shelfand the display on the shelf shows all theuseful information on the product.

Customers who have scanned theirselections pay at a PayTower using thePSA scanner receipt and a credit card. Ifthey haven’t scanned their purchasesthey use the multifunctional POS, eitherwith the help of an employee, or to scantheir goods themselves using the built-in,180 degree rotatable scan station.

The exhibition Living Tomorrow runsfor five years. During the week, it isexclusively open to companyrepresentatives; the exhibition is onlyopen to the public on weekends.

FURTHER INFO:

www.livingtomorrow.com

www.wincor-nixdorf.com

Wincor Nixdorf demonstrates‘shopping tomorrow’

E-COMMERCE

New West Technologies has launched itsMobile POS Suite – a collection ofintegrated applications that includescomplete inventory management,purchase order and work order – withthe capability to do layaways and quotes,transfer out/transfer in, real-timeinformation processing, real-time creditcard processing, label printing and itemmanaging.

“Inventory management is one of thebiggest challenges for anyone who buysand sells,” says Lynn Anderson, marketingdirector at New West Technologies. “Mostof a retail company’s investment budget istied up in inventory in one manner oranother. Balancing the costs associated withpurchasing, sales and loss can be verychallenging – even with automatedsystems, inventories are often inaccurate.”

Mobile POS Suite integrates withMicrosoft RMS and Microsoft POS andallows employees to use spare time to workon inventory. When a customer comes in,

the employee clicks save, picking upinventory counts at another time. No data isstored in the hardware device, so a numberof devices can be used in multiple locations– all communicating in real time. All devicesare routed wirelessly to the company’s mainserver where the data is stored. If a device islost, or damaged, no data is lost.

“If retailers knew that their perpetualinventories were accurate, they could makebetter purchasing decisions, deciding whichitems to mark down due to slow turn time.They would know which items are hot, andwhich are not. Accurate inventorymanagement also helps to determineshrinkage issues much more quickly,” saidAnderson.

New West Technologies, a Microsoft GoldPartner, has recently received the Microsoft‘Small Business, Large Value’ award.

FURTHER INFO:

www.newestech.com

New West challengesinventory management

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Somerfield has reduced costs without compromising flexibility

in short...

NEWS FROM THE MARKETPLACE

New POS technology is driving sales

4 Retailspeak SPR I NG 2007

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retail technology round-up

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Microsoft and Teradata partner for moreeffective business intelligenceMicrosoft and data warehouse supplier Teradata arepartnering to optimise interoperability between Microsoftbusiness intelligence solutions and the Teradata EnterpriseData Warehouse to help information workers gain access to,analyse and report on critical data more quickly, and helpstreamline the delivery of business intelligence applications.

As part of this effort, Microsoft and Teradata arecollaborating to enhance interoperability between theTeradata Enterprise Data Warehouse and Microsoft SQL ServerAnalysis Services, targeting availability of the technologies forthe end of the first quarter of 2007. In addition,interoperability collaboration efforts with Teradata will includeSQL Server 2005 Reporting Services; SQL Server 2005Integration Services; and the 2007 Microsoft Office systemincluding Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Windows SharePointServices and Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007.The worldwide relationship includes plans for joint sales andmarketing activities across multiple industries, beginning withthe retail sector.

“The combination of these powerful Microsoft and Teradatatechnologies will enable our joint customers to make better,faster decisions by infusing real-time intelligence into frontlineoperations and long-range strategic planning,” said TeradataVP Randy Lea. “Enterprise intelligence provides companieswith a competitive advantage because they have a single viewof their business built on the foundation of an enterprise datawarehouse.”

“Our goal is to enable business intelligence andperformance management across the enterprise,” said Tom

Casey, general manager for SQL Server at Microsoft. “SQLServer 2005 is an integral part of Microsoft’s end-to-endbusiness intelligence platform, which enables businesses toperform these types of mission-critical tasks. The seamlessintegration of the Microsoft BI solution and Teradatatechnologies provides significant value to our joint customers.”

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services is a leadingOLAP server on the market and provides a fundamentalmechanism for surfacing data to other Microsoft analytic andreporting tools. Microsoft applications and tools can accessthe data in this analytic engine to bring data from theTeradata Warehouse to information workers in the tools theyuse every day for high-speed, interactive reporting andanalysis, as well as more traditional informational reporting.

Teradata Warehouse technology is used by many of theworld’s most successful enterprises to provide high-performance and reliable data warehousing. Teradatacustomers routinely leverage hundreds of terabytes of data toanalyse business trends and decide how best to run theirbusinesses.

In addition to planned software and joint go-to-marketactivities, Teradata will be working closely with Microsoft’sworldwide Technology Centres to enable joint customers toengage in joint proof-of-concept activities and learn aboutbest practices.

FURTHER INFO:

www.teradata.com

www.microsoft.com

• Teradata and Microsoftannounced their collaboration tooffer BI solutions for mutualcustomers. Teradata alsoannounced that it will deliver anew Teradata.NET Connectorsolution.

• First Data, Microsoft and HPannounced a partnershipcombining transaction processingtools, software and hardware todeliver a completely automatedPOS solution for small retailers.

• SAP announced its ZoneOptimisation application –combining demand intelligencemodelling and optimisationtechnology, built on WindowsVista

• Accruent showcased its real estateperformance management systemusing Windows Vista

• Cactus Commerce announced thata leader in retail battery sales haschosen Cactus to streamline itssupply chain using BizTalk Server2006 to improve integration

• Epicor announced a portfolio ofretailers that have chosen itsMicrosoft .NET-based POS SolutionCRS RetailStore Central (see page 8)

• Experticity announced the releaseof Live Support 3.0 (live videocustomer support built on .NET);new features include Vistacompatibility, in-home videoconferencing customer supportand mobile phone support

• Form Automation Solutionsshowcased AuditMatic v4, mobiledata collection and reporting; newfeatures include task managementand task compliance reportingcapabilities

• Eqos unveiled enhancements to itsGlobal Sourcing and SupplierManagement solution, making iteasier for retailers to workcollaboratively with suppliers tosimplify, standardise and scale theprocesses associated with sourcingprivate label merchandise.

The big showBEST IN SHOW

Retail’s big show, NRF07, has just taken place in New York. With over 530 exhibitors,there were hundreds of industry announcements. Here’s the best of the bunch…


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The Retail Applications Developer (RAD)Awards, now in their seventh year, willtake place on 27 February in Düsseldorf.

The awards will reward EMEAindependent software vendors (ISVs) andretailer IT departments that cansuccessfully demonstrate innovation andexcellence by delivering business valueusing Microsoft technologies in the retailsector. There are five award categories:Store Systems Solutions, Communicationand Collaboration Solutions, Supply ChainSolutions, Multi-Channel RetailingSolutions and Business Insight Solutions. Inaddition, a new special award People-Ready Business in Retail has been addedto recognise the solution that bestempowers a retailer to developrelationships, ensure operationalexcellence, build connections and leadinnovation.

Dilip Popat, MD of the retail industrysolutions unit at Microsoft EMEA said:“Today it is more important than ever toprovide people with the tools that willhelp them fulfil their own potential while

also enabling them to be more efficientand bringing success to the retail business.With the RAD Awards, we want torecognise people and projects that havedemonstrated the benefits of innovativeand effective use of technology in retailbusinesses.”

Entries will be judged against criteriaincluding business benefits that thesolution has brought to the customer;best use of Microsoft technology; ease ofadoption; best example of integration andexploitation of intranet and internettechnology; best example of enhancedcustomer experience; innovative use oftechnology, and best example of increasedoperational efficiency. Last year’s winnersin the five categories included WorkPlaceSystems (in-store system), IVIS Group Ltd(multi-channel), Torex Retail Solutions(supply chain), BT Auto-ID (enterprisecollaboration), and Sysrepublic (businessintelligence).

FURTHER INFO:

www.microsoft.com/emea/rad

FUTURE VALUE CHAIN

Manufacture to consumptionSenior executives of fifty of the world’sleading companies and industryassociations have approved for publicationa major new report on the changingdynamics of industry that will define thefuture of business.

The new study, 2016: The Future ValueChain emerged from six months ofdiscussions between manufacturers,retailers, logistics and technologycompanies, and academics. It defines aunique vision of the total value chain forconsumer goods from manufacture toconsumption.

The new report is the latest in a series ofpublications on the collaborativemanagement of global business initiatedby the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI). Itpredicts that the evolution of the valuechain will be driven increasingly by aconvergence of external forces that canonly be addressed collaboratively by themembers of the value chain. Traditionalindustry trends in information flow,logistics, consumer behaviour anddemographics will become increasinglyaffected by major issues of ecology, newtechnologies, the regulatory environment,

and shifts in the global economy.“The goal of this joint effort was to

provide a realistic view of 2016, ratherthan an ‘anything goes’ futuristic scenario,and a way to bridge from today totomorrow,” said José Luis Duran, chairmanof the management board at Carrefourgroup, and newly named GCI co-chairman.“It is especially clear that collaborationbetween all parties in the value chain willbe essential in order to better serve theneeds of the consumer, efficiently andeffectively. The successful collaborativeactivities carried out by GCI and itsmember companies through this work areonly the beginning and will be vital as wemove toward realising our future vision.”

The study, published by GCI andCapgemini with the support of Intel,stemmed from joint work conducted by awide range of industry players.Participating organisations came fromacross the world, including Carrefour,CocaCola, Dairy Farm, Kraft Foods, Nestlé,Philips, Procter & Gamble, Unilever andWalMart.

2016: The Future Value Chain isavailable at www.gci–net.org.

Waitrose has announced a major rolloutof electronic point of sale (EPOS)technology from PCMS. The solution,based on Wincor Nixdorf Beetle tills, willbe deployed across 180 storesthroughout the UK, running onembedded Windows XPEmbedded.

Waitrose felt a strong need to updateits existing 12-year-old EPOS system. SallyHodgson, manager of EPOSdevelopment, said: “Our basic ambitionwas to make the tills as easy to operateas we could, so that cashiers canconcentrate on helping the customer. Togive customers the best possibleWaitrose shopping experience, wewanted to develop more flexible andcustomer-focused systems.”

Helen Davies, systems manager fornew point of sale at Waitrose, said: “Wehad our own specific requirements forthe system and PCMS has developedthose changes, but still at its heart, it isvery much PCMS’ Beanstore product. Wehave worked in an extremelycollaborative manner and the next stepof the process is for Waitrose personnelto take on actual developmentresponsibilities, giving us moreautonomy. PCMS is providing the trainingto make this happen at the moment.”

The rollout will be completed in 2007.In the meantime, Wincor Nixdorf has alsotaken over the support and maintenanceof the existing estate.

FURTHER INFO:

www.wincor-nixdorf.com

www.pcmsgroup.com

New EPOSfor Waitrose

POINT OF SALE

Microsoft to rewardretail innovation

RETAIL AWARDS

Waitrose focuses on customer service


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Escalate Retail has completed testing ofMicrosoft SQL Server 2005 to determinethe maximum performance of anEscalate Retail system.

The results indicate that SQL Server2005 Standard 64-bit edition incombination with Microsoft WindowsServer 2003 X64 Editions creates anextremely powerful platform.

Escalate Retail was able to achievesimulated web and call centre activityof over 24,000 orders through 1,200call centre users based on an ordertime of three minutes per call; 20,000orders per hour were entered via batchorder entry from file with orderprocessing running at 60,000 per hour.For a typical retailer with an averageorder of US$150, this would support anonline business of up to US$2.8 billionin revenue annually.

“With SQL Server 2005 64-bit, we aredelivering a robust data platform to ourpartners that enables them to createhighly scalable IT solutions to fit theindividual needs of their customers,”said Lucho Torres, group productmanager for SQL Server at Microsoft.

FURTHER INFO:

www.escalateretail.com

RETAIL SYSTEMS

Enterprise business software solutionsprovider Epicor has released CRSRetailStore Central, a solution for themanagement of geographically andtypologically diverse store-system retailformats.

Based on the Microsoft .NETFramework, RetailStore Central usessecure publish/subscriber-basedtechnology to allow retail chains withmany locations to monitor and managetheir store system configurations andbusiness rules in less time and withgreater control. The power of the latest.NET store technology also providesretailers with greater flexibility.

From a central location, RetailStoreCentral’s dashboard enables retailers tochange and monitor CRS RetailStore

point of sale and back officeconfiguration profiles. Changes relatedto policies, procedures, payroll, security,marketing, taxes and inventory, can allbe made remotely on a store-by-storebasis or store groupings without ITpersonnel creating change files.

“While flexibility and functionalityare competitive prerequisites for storesystems, these are not enough; systemsneed to be effectively managed.RetailStore Central provides retailerswith a new set of timesaving controltools for meeting this challenge,” saidKathy Frommer, senior vice presidentand general manager of Epicor CRS.

FURTHER INFO:

www.crsretail.com

Remote systemsmanagement makesits mark

SYSTEM MANAGEMENT

Did you know?Around 26,000 retail websites currently exist, yet 72 per cent of online shoppersbuy from less than ten e-retailers each per year, with the average consumerpurchasing from just eight in the past twelve months.Source: Royal Mail

Retailers and supermarkets areincreasingly extending criticalcomputerised processes into frontlinedelivery services – right in to thedelivery driver’s cab. Great forimproving efficiency and customerservice but what happens when devicesfail many miles from the depot?

Mobile devices can help makedeliveries both easier and morepredictable while making datacollection less onerous and timeconsuming. But as these devicesbecome more important to thesmooth running of key processes,organisations are realising that thereneeds to be more focus on ensuringthat they are operating efficiently andeffectively. Unlike other IT systems,mobile devices have some unique

issues, not least of which is theirlocation when things go wrong.

When a delivery driver’s mobiledevice fails whilst he is on the road,you cannot simply send IT supportround to sort things out. The initialoption is to fall back on the old paperbased process, wasting time both onthe road and back in the office wheredata needs to be input manually. Thealternative is to return to the depot toget the problem fixed, delaying deliveryand impacting customer satisfaction.

Neither approach really works, but athird option is now increasingly beingadopted. Organisations are starting touse systems such as B2M’s Mprodigy –a software solution that focuses on thedaily management of mobile devices.This encompasses the many aspects of

mobile device management from remoterebooting; updating software on devicesthat are spread around the country;keeping track of easily misplaced assets;understanding how new systems arebeing adopted by employees who arenot technologically aware.

One delivery organisation found thatover 80 per cent of the devices that gowrong when a driver is on the roadcould be fixed from their supportcentre using Mprodigy, meaning that areturn to their depot was no longernecessary.

B2M’s Mprodigy helps minimise supportcosts, keeps mobile devices operational andidentifies where and how mobile assets arebeing used. For more information visitwww.b2m-solutions.com

Frontline delivery servicesSOLUTION PROFILE

By Julie Purves, managing director of B2M Solutions – Managing the Mobile Enterprise

Escalatingscalability


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latest news

The National Retail Federation (NRF)recently released a study of 90 retailerswho expect bogus returns will cost themUS$3.5 billion following Christmas. Thesurvey also reported the most popularforms of deception include return of stolenmerchandise, return of merchandisepurchased with fraudulent or counterfeittender and returns using counterfeitreceipts. Stores lost US$16 billion to bogusreturns in 2003, up 23 per cent from2002.

Fujitsu Transaction Solutions’ Windows-based ReturnCenter software is designedto combat fraudulent returns by enactingmultiple processes to identify and verifythe customer, as well as the returnedmerchandise. ReturnCenter managesreturns across channels (in-store, phoneand internet) and provides numerous

analytical reports, resulting in fewer lossesand improved customer service.

“Return fraud is a significant, industry-wide problem for retailers, and effectiveloss prevention and returns managementare key to combating the issue,” said KeithMcNamara, senior vice president ofsoftware operations at Fujitsu TransactionSolutions.

“ReturnCenter is Fujitsu’s answer to theproblem – an application that givesretailers greater flexibility and control overreturns management, while offering arobust reporting system that providescritical insight into those activities thathave the greatest impact on the returnsprocess.”

FURTHER INFO:

www.fujitsu.com/uk/industries/retail

SOFTWARE INNOVATION

A World of Softwarelaunches flagship store A World of Software has launched aflagship store at Terminal 4 ofHeathrow Airport, allowing customersto write software direct from publisherto disk in just a few minutes usingSoftWide technology.

A World of Software says its newTerminal 4 store offers over 2,000titles, allowing business travellers toupdate software, or holidayingtravellers to learn the basics of thelanguage of their destination or benefitfrom the latest programming trends.Kids can also be kept entertained witheducational software.

According to the company, theSoftWide system offers significantadvantages over the conventionalretail models. A World Of Softwarestores differ from existing retailers in

that they have no physical stock, andtherefore no unsold or physical returns.They also apparently benefit from anextended range of availability, whilemaintaining the latest versions ofsoftware with no distribution delay.SoftWide claims its solution is easilyupgradeable to DVD or consoleplatforms.

Company chief executive Daniel Doll-Steinburg, said: “We are not aiming totackle established markets, but tocreate, develop and nurture new ones,opening up new areas of thought,research and development, along withincremental and radical changes toproducts, processes and services.”

FURTHER INFO:

www.softwide.com

Unipower Solutions has launched anew portfolio of multi-channel retailsoftware solutions, which thecompany says will give retailersconsistency of choice, service andshopping experience across multiplechannels.

Unipower specialises in customer-facing retail software, including pointof sale, Web stores and ordermanagement and has recentlyachieved Microsoft Gold Partnerstatus by achieving new competenciesin data management and softwaresolutions.

“Our range of customer-facingsoftware solutions have beendeployed extensively on Microsoftplatforms and the Gold certification isformal recognition of our expertise inthis field. We are delighted to be partof a very select group of Microsoftpartners at this level,” said Unipower’smanaging director, John Camp.

Camp says that Unipower’s portfolioof solutions includes customisable,feature-rich, future-proof, extensiblepoint of sale solution EPOS; bespoke e-commerce solution WebStore; andWeb-based customer order processingsolution Order Management.

“With retailers continuing to striveto find new ways for improvingcustomer loyalty, the need for them tomake themselves accessible acrossmultiple channels and achieveconsistent levels of service is vital. Werecognise this demand and haveidentified how we can offertechnology as an answer,” said Camp.

He adds that Unipower has alsoresponded to the complex business ofmulti-channel retailing by extendingits customer-facing product set toinclude a comprehensive back-officeand ERP solution for end-to-endbusiness solutions.

All of Unipower’s products are builton Microsoft’s relational database SQLServer and use the latest .NETtechnology. Camp explains that usingsuch industry standards simplifiesongoing maintenance and futureproduct development to allowcustomers to take advantage of newtechnologies and innovations.

FURTHER INFO:

www.unipower.com

Unipowerextends itsreach

MULTIPLE CHANNELS

Software helps retailerscombat return fraud

RETURN FRAUD

Did you know?35 per cent of shoppers visit only the aisles which they believe have the itemsthey need, compared with 30 per cent three years ago. 25 per cent are guided,and visit each aisle, regardless of whether they needed anything.

Source: IGD’s In-Store Environment report

lead story

13SPR I NG 2007 Retailspeak

There are two fundamental issuesconcerning payments that retailers, interms of IT provision, need to confrontand organise during the next 12 to 36

months. David Dobson, worldwide industrymanager, store systems, at Microsoft, says:“Payment systems in the Euro zone are about toundergo a period of change as crossbordercompetition is introduced to financial services.”

Perhaps surprisingly after 40 years of theEuropean single market and five years of thesingle currency – at least in 12 countries – thereare still no transnational banks in Europe. If aretailer wishes to open stores in a country otherthan its own, the stores must use one of thenational banks of that country to process theirtransactions with customers. The Single EuroPayments Area (SEPA) is intended to create anopen zone for banks and payment card processorsto operate across the European Union (EU).

SEPA is strategically important and will unravelfor retailers over at least a two to three yearperiod. The Payment Card Industry (PCI) DataSecurity Standard (DSS) on the other hand is aninitiative from an industry body set up by themajor credit card companies that is imminent –see Global Forum panel on page 16.

The DSS focuses on improving paymentaccount security throughout the transactionprocess and US retailers have already encounteredthe new rules.

European retailers, Dobson suggests, arestarting to deploy lessons learned from the USexperience so far, in anticipation of the DSS beingimplemented. In the US the PCI SecurityStandards Council (SSC) has laid down some ‘mustdo’ and ‘should do’ rules but compliance has notyet been mandated in EMEA. However, whenthere has been a security breach, SSC has come

down hard on the retailer. There is the threat of afine and possible ejection from the scheme andthe Security Standards Council has indicated thatit will police members’ compliance in a moreproactive manner in the future.

In Europe the SSC has already begun workwith the large banks and clearing houses onimplementing DSS. Once this work is complete,the Council will move quickly on to large retailers.

SINGLE FINANCIAL MARKETEurope’s payment systems could be consideredoutmoded compared with the US, with bits ofregulation inhibiting competition. But there’sreason to believe the EU will continue to movetowards deregulation as the European CentralBank (ECB) has instituted SEPA to achieve this.

SEPA is good news for retailers. With thebarriers down, they will be free to negotiate forthe best transaction-processing deal. Once SEPA iscomplete a French retailer, for example, will beable to process payment cards from customersbanking in France through a German bank’sservice. In theory cross-border retail payments willbe no more expensive than national ones but thisdoes rely on technologies becoming moreefficient to reduce actual costs.

“A retailer will no longer have to certify thesoftware it uses with different banks in differentcountries,” says Dobson. “It will be possible tocertify the software centrally. Retailers will findthat application developers will gain the sameadvantage and will be able to offer softwarealready approved for Europe-wide use.” This willminimise the impact of new obligations underschemes such as DSS because software can bedeveloped to conform to the new rules, beaudited to these standards and deployed for useacross a retailer’s entire international network

PAYMENTS TECHNOLOGY

WHO HAS ACCESS TO DATA IS GOING TO BE HANDLED IN A MUCH MORE

SENSIBLE WAY, THE DSS IS PUSHING RETAILERS DOWN THE ROUTE

TOWARDS USER AUTHENTICATION

David Dobson

Microsoft

Payment systemsRetailers need to plan for payment convergence in the Euro zone and fordata security regulations introduced by a new body established by thepayment card industry, reports Mark Webb

lead story

of stores. At the moment the process has to becarried out for each region.

In order for SEPA to work for consumers,merchants will need to be able to accept all SEPAcards relevant to their business. The ECBtherefore demands that the whole industrycreates a technical level playing-field for cardschemes and infrastructure/service providers. Abig part of this is interoperability, which will onlybe made possible by a choice of open systemsthat work together, for example Windows andLinux. Software developers will need to model therules, practices and standards, which will be laiddown by the banking authorities as SEPAdevelops, so that everyone in the payment chaincan be compliant.

PAYMENT CARD RULESThe PCI established the Security StandardsCouncil to devise standards for the payment cardindustry and then stepped back from theCouncil’s operation so that it could remain

independent of individual payment cardcompanies. The Council trains and employsindependent auditors to check that IT systems,including individual components such as pin pads,comply with the rules in the DSS. Retailers’ newresponsibilities will mainly revolve around thehandling of their customers’ data. In Europe theCouncil has worked with the banks first but willsoon move to the large retailers, while alsoauditing software and hardware suppliers.

Once the retailer has captured payment carddata of any kind, it will be incumbent on it toencrypt that data in order to conform to the DSS.The server technology on which a retailer’s ITsystems reside must therefore be able to providethe required levels of encryption.

If the retailer wishes to keep customer data forany length of time, there are additionalregulations laid down by the DSS about how tostore the data. These are more onerous thanretailers are used to at the moment.

“Access to data will be more tightly

controlled,” says Dobson. “Staff will not haveaccess to customer payment data held on pointof sale (POS) equipment. Only staff with a goodreason will be authorised to access the data.”

“Who has access to data is going to behandled in a much more sensible way,” saysDobson. “The DSS is pushing retailers down theroute towards user authentication.”

In the future it is clear that each member ofstaff will have certain capabilities awarded tothem. This need for different users to be allocateddifferent levels of access to data has the potentialto burden the retailer with extra administration.Application developers are creating software toolsto manage this requirement. For example,Hewlett Packard’s OpenView supports identitymanagement, from creation to retirement. It’sstraightforward to use OpenView to apply accessrights and entitlements. Microsoft products suchas SMS/Systems Centre perform a similar function.It is also capable of carrying a user’s identityacross the boundaries of different companies’ IT

systems, to allow an online shopper to buy frommore than one retailer, without logging in to eachin turn. New operating systems, such as WindowsVista, also have technology built into them to helpdevelopers meet the new levels of security beingdemanded – Microsoft CardSpace is one way ofproviding this level of security for payments.

The DSS also demands that payment data beheld separately from other data. Microsoft hasinvestigated using its virtualisation technology toprovide a second ‘logical’ server to hold paymentdata away from other data on an existing server.

The DSS is about keeping a customer’spersonal payment details secure and is thereforean extension to other similar initiatives in the past.It may place more responsibility on the retailerbut software and systems can help meet thisresponsibility and the reward will be customerswho are confident about paying. Not a bad thing.

It’s also worth considering the impact on staffbefore systems are put in place. Extra securitymay be viewed as mistrust. The removal of

privileges, even if these were never exercised, maybe viewed as a loss of standing. Thorough stafftraining, with proper explanations of why themeasures are necessary, will be required.

NEW PAYMENT SCENARIOSOne of the reasons for the need for new modesof payment security is the advent of electronicpayment in its multifarious forms. Technologycompanies are reviewing the methods availableto customers to make payments. Any retailer thatwants to move quickly into new channels as theyopen up will need adaptable IT systems that canbe repurposed or extended in quickly executedprojects, accessing existing data. To achieve thisthe retailer’s IT procurement and managementneeds to be strategic and based aroundenterprise servers running operating systems thatcan deal with a multichannel world. With thesesystems in place, customers will be able to shopwith the retailer on their terms, via their means ofcommunication and in their time frame.


Customers buying online are familiar withcreating an identity for themselves and anaccount or profile that they can edit. Customershave to create these for each retailer they visit.Microsoft’s passport concept, when individualscreate one identity and it’s recognised as valid bymore than one web site, will continue to develop.Similarly, a customer can use a service such asPaypal to have a single payment identity that isaccepted by numerous retailers.

This concept may transfer to physical means ofpayment such as smartcards and mobile phones.“One scenario that Microsoft proposes,” saysDobson, “is an electronic wallet, with securityfeatures, for example encryption, that can beassociated with different means of payment. Theconsumer can then choose to pay in differentways, perhaps topping up a prepaid service onlinefrom the wallet or paying at a retail outlet withthe wallet (via card or mobile) but with the addedsecurity of entering a pin number. For smallerpayments, paying for a metro ticket for example,the wallet might be debited automatically as theconsumer moves past a wireless reader.”

Micropayments of this kind are a vital part ofmany online strategies, and the key is to lowerthe cost of a transaction. Microsoft chairman BillGates recently indicated that the company isworking in this area. Speaking at the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos recently, he said: “Ifyou want to charge somebody US$0.10 or US$1 a

month, that will just be a click... you won't haveto manage some funny thing or pay some bigcredit charge, where half of it goes to clearing.”

Microsoft’s points system, developed for XboxLive and later used for the Zune music market-place, is one way of lowering transaction costs.This scheme sees users buying points in bulk andthen paying for purchases with those points.

In this scenario consumers and retailers cometo an arrangement about payment prior to actualuse. The consumer is aware of the terms andconditions and happily allows money to be takento an agreed amount. By managing the account,the retailer is providing an improved customerservice and automating payment.

Having agreed to take part, the customer isavailable to the retailer’s promotions. The retailermight send money-off coupons to the customer’smobile. A loyalty card can be associated with thewallet and benefits notified by email. In theseways the same payment identity can be used fordifferent payment methods. And key, saysDobson: “The customer is always in control.”

SEPA will soon open up the financialmarketplace and revolutionise the card paymentservices available to European retailers. It’s theperfect moment to get payment technology intoshape. Retailers can’t afford to miss opportunitiesat the customer and banking ends of theiroperations, while simultaneously ensuringcompliance with new security obligations.

FOR THE EUROSYSTEM, A SINGLE EURO

PAYMENTS AREA (SEPA) WILL BECOME REALITY

WHEN ALL EURO PAYMENTS IN THE EURO AREA

ARE TREATED AS DOMESTIC PAYMENTS, AND

WHEN THE CURRENT DIFFERENTIATION

BETWEEN NATIONAL AND CROSS-BORDER

PAYMENTS DISAPPEARS

Jean-Claude Trichet

European Central Bank

lead story

The PCI Security Standards Council describes itself as “an openglobal forum for the ongoing development, enhancement, storage,dissemination and implementation of security standards for accountdata protection.”

In November 2006 American Express, Discover Financial Services,JCB, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa International jointly announcedthe formation of an independent council designed to manage theongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data SecurityStandard (DSS), which focuses on improving payment accountsecurity throughout the transaction process. The aim is to securepayment account data in a globally consistent manner. Ultimatelythis means that more than a billion global payment card users maybenefit from a higher level of security protection against data theftand fraud.

“The payment brands that founded the Council are committed toensuring the ongoing development of data security standards thatare both efficient and effective,” said Seana Pitt, chair of the PCISecurity Standards Council. “The creation of this Council is a

significant step forward in protecting cardholder information and itunderscores the critical nature of this effort.”

The PCI Security Standards Council will:• Develop and maintain a global, industry-wide technical data

security standard for the protection of account holder accountinformation.

• Reduce costs and lead times for DSS implementation andcompliance by establishing common technical standards andaudit procedures for use by all payment brands.

• Provide a list of globally available, qualified security solutionproviders via its Web site to help the industry achieve compliance.

• Lead training, education, and a streamlined process for certifyingQualified Security Assessors (QSAs) and Approved ScanningVendors (ASVs), providing a single source of approval recognisedby all five founding members.

• Provide a transparent forum in which all stakeholders can provideinput into the ongoing development, enhancement anddissemination of data security standards.

GLOBAL FORUM

19SPR I NG 2007 Retailspeak 18 Retailspeak SPR I NG 2007

feature

Searching for a solutionAs the retail industry quickens its pace, the creation of an environmentwhere information can be used in a collaborative manner is essential inorder to achieve a real competitive edge. Lindsay James looks at the newtechnology that makes information management easier than ever before

The retail industry is morecompetitive than ever. Formidablecontenders are developing fromindustry consolidation, and new

products are continuously being brought tomarket. The pressure to keep up is immense,and retailers are being forced to revisit theirsupply chains in an attempt to reduce costsand increase efficiencies. At the same time,they are beginning to look at multi-channelinitiatives in order to gain wider appeal andincrease revenues. These new initiatives arecomplex, creating a huge challenge in terms ofinformation management.

“There are several major barriers keepingretailers from effectively managing businessinformation,” says Lynn Anderson, marketingdirector at New West Technologies. “Manyhave antiquated, incongruent systems;systems imprecisely chosen or sold to themthat do not, and will never, meet their specificneeds in terms of data collection andaccessibility. These systems have a lack ofremote access and are short of the proactiveprocesses that bring them the businessintelligence they require.”

Retailers are still among the worst offendersin relation to disjointed IT, despite the fact thatthey have become used to investing hugesums in the latest software and hardware tosupport mission critical operational systems.These companies have implemented highlysophisticated systems that control the flow ofmerchandise through the enterprise, and alsofeature planning, budgeting, forecasting andreporting systems. Most have sophisticatedmerchandising systems that support a vastnumber of internal buyers as well as outside

suppliers. Store transactions are also wellcovered, with the latest point of sale (POS)systems sitting on counters collectingenormous amounts of data. Many retail chainshave also spent hefty budgets on EnterpriseResource Planning (ERP) systems thatsignificantly improve accounting functions.Despite all this, these systems often operate ondifferent IT platforms that fail to communicatewith each other.

So why is there a tendency for retail chainsto have disparate IT systems for differentfunctions? “Retailers have embraced pointsolutions or best of breed solutions to addressa variety of critical business processes,” saysTony Marinelli, CEO of Cactus Commerce. “Theresult is pools of information within eachsolution. As businesses grow throughacquisitions, they adopt systems and businessprocesses and don’t immediately synchroniseacquired systems with those already in place.Companies do not want to risk shutting downtheir systems to allow for an update oroverhaul because the system is still inoperation and they need it to conductbusiness, and they hesitate to invest the timeor money involved in retraining employees ona new system. However, as retailers grow, sodoes the problem.”

“Retailers have vastly differing systemneeds,” says Anderson. “In the past, no singlesolution has been able to manage everyprocess involved in the industry, so inevitablydifferent products are chosen to managedifferent areas. Each of these different systemshas training requirements and they don’tnecessarily work together. In the past it hassimply not been affordable for retailers to

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT


feature

move to a more comprehensive system.”The information associated with a product is

a critical link in the supply chain. That chainfilters back from the consumer at the point ofsale to the store aisle, shelf, stock room,through the warehouse, distribution centreand to the manufacturer’s warehouse andfactory floor. At every link, product informationis used to make buying decisions, driveoperational efficiencies, and directly impacttime-to-market. “This is combined withretailers trying to provide richer customerexperiences, while being consistent acrosschannels,” says Tim Gruver, manager ofdevelopment and platform solutions atMicrosoft. “So the need for integrated systemsis something that retailers cannot afford toignore if they are to compete effectively andsecure a share of a rapidly changing market.There is a need to link the backend systems tointegrated user experiences along withcombining information from outside sources,which is a huge challenge.”

“The average retailer’s experience involvesgoing to a computer, running off severaldifferent reports, combining those reports togather the specific bits of information needed,and then transferring that information into aspreadsheet,” says Anderson. “Traditionallyretailers run reports that are focused onparticular types of information – for examplesales by supplier, or sales by date. They mayhave to run several reports to get theinformation they require. Once the reports arerun they have to transfer into a spreadsheet foranalysis. This process is time-consuming andcostly. However, with advanced tools likeSharePoint from Microsoft, retailers can have adashboard view that represents summarisedinformation from multiple data sources and

multiple areas of interest. Retailers can havethe information precisely the way they want it,and in real time.”

Microsoft has developed four search andinformation management strategies thatsatisfy the need for multi-channel integrationand semantically searching for information (seepanel over page).

The Search and Find, Use and ShareInformation (FUSI) strategies focus on howMicrosoft integrated enterprise managementsolutions can help individuals to make the bestbusiness decisions, deliver greater businessimpact, and be as productive as possible byenabling them to find, use and share relevantbusiness information more quickly, more easilyand more securely. Rather than traditionalbusiness intelligence tools such as Cognos(effective use of which requires training)Search and FUSI initiatives are tools thatpeople can use without specialist knowledge.

“Search and FUSI are key in terms ofproviding heterogeneous capabilities to searchMicrosoft and non-Microsoft systems acrossstructured and unstructured data,” saysGruver. “Several attempts by the industry inthe past have failed because it didn’t searchboth types of data, was bound to a singleplatform, or required translation of the datainto different formations. It was a very nichemarket that was quite expensive to acquireand not in line with retailers’ budgets.”

With entries from Microsoft and severalother large ISVs, the cost has reduced and thecompetition has created rapid innovation. TheMS-Search tool makes integration with theplatforms easy, but then the power is pullingthe information back into familiar experiences;be it the Office platform, Vista desktop, orcustom applications on .NET, so that it is

THE NEED FOR INTEGRATED SYSTEMS IS

SOMETHING THAT RETAILERS CANNOT AFFORD

TO IGNORE IF THEY ARE TO COMPETE

EFFECTIVELY AND SECURE A SHARE OF A

RAPIDLY CHANGING MARKET

Tim Gruver

Microsoft


transparent to the end user. It’s also extremelypowerful because of the large ISV ecosystem,which continues to build on top of theplatform with deeply rich retail solutions.

One ISV, Cactus Commerce, is activelyworking with enterprise retailers to facilitate theflow of goods from the point of fabrication tothe point of consumption. The Cactus Multi-Channel Retail Solution takes advantage of next-generation user experience technologies,Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation(WPF), Commerce Server and BizTalk Server tohelp retailers connect e-commerce onlinesystems, in-store systems, kiosks, mobile devices,call centres, marketing channels and operationsinto one coherent digital nervous system.

“Managing multiple retail channels from asingle infrastructure provides retailers with theopportunity to improve customer service andselling opportunities by providing aconsolidated view of customer and productinformation whenever and wherever it is

needed,” says Marinelli. “This enables retailersto drive enhanced supply chain efficiency andtrading partner collaboration, and easilymanage the adoption of transformingtechnologies such as global datasynchronisation and RFID.”

Unipower Retail is another product that hasbeen designed to provide the retail industry witha single source of support for all customer-facingretail activities across all sales channels. “Thisunified support across multiple channelsprovides staff and managers with more detailedreal-time information at their fingertips,” saysUnipower’s Toni O’Rourke. “The wealth ofinformation gathered from all aspects of thebusiness can be processed to produce relationalreports that reveal business-area specificinfluences on sales performance, customerloyalty, quality of customer service andpromotional campaigns. This kind of informationdrives effective decision-making and activelyhelps to gain a competitive advantage.”

feature

MICROSOFT,S

APPROACH

Microsoft has developed four search andinformation management solutions thatenable increased productivity and betterdecision-making.

The simplest of the solutions is theStandalone Search. Businesses that choose astandalone search can install MicrosoftOffice SharePoint Server 2007 or OfficeSharePoint Server for Search. This solutionenables people to search across the intranetwith simple screening functionality basedon metadata in the target content.

As data sources grow to include line-of-business applications (LOB), so does theneed for scalability of search solutions. Thesecond solution set, Comprehensive Search,allows your company to customiseSharePoint Server 2007 for a high-intensity,highly integrated search solution thatintegrates with line-of-business applications.

As an organisation’s information needsincrease or become more complex, groupsmay take advantage of search tools specificto their needs or functions. Disparate userinterfaces present data differently, creatinginconsistencies and confusion. The effect isthat results or findings may not be coherentacross groups. Similarly, learning newsearch tools can be frustrating and timeconsuming. Therefore, the third solution,Basic Find, Use and Share, is moderatelycustomised, but includes a moresophisticated search and server informationmanagement solution. Using the same,familiar search interface across anorganisation will mitigate search training,and at the same time smoothly handlestructured content (LOB and EnterpriseContent Management systems). In addition,it will handle multiple formats ofunstructured content (e-mail, documents,HTML pages, video, and voice).

When teams are spread across culturaland geographic boundaries, content anddocument exchange can quickly get out ofcontrol. The traditional methods ofcommunication, scheduling, and file sharingcan no longer keep pace with the ever-increasing volume of data. Customised Find,Use, Share Configuration is the fourthsolution set, and is a highly customisedsearch, desktop, and server informationmanagement solution, combined with real-time collaboration and common businessprocess workflow integration. Thisconfiguration covers search, but providesmuch richer use and share solutions toempower people and teams.


viewpoint

It may be the most significant desktop release in over adecade, but what does Vista bring to the retail industry?Microsoft’s Tim Gruver explains

Relieving thepressure

Windows Presentation Foundation is thebasis for a new generation of graphicaldisplays but it builds on existingdevelopment principles so the leap indisplay quality needn’t mean a leap incosts. Graphics now scale to the size ofthe display device so company brandingcan be designed once and deployedoften, on TVs, computer screens, in-store screens and projections forproduct launches. It’s also going to beeasier for creative agencies to movetheir work into the softwareenvironment.

Windows Communication Foundationis a unified programming model forbuilding service-oriented applications.The services can interoperate with non-Windows platforms and integrate withexisting software investments.

Windows Workflow Foundation is theprogramming model, engine and toolsfor creating workflow-enabledapplications. Its declarative naturereflects system and human-basedworkflow arrangement in business andindustry.

VISTA FORRETAIL

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tim Gruver is the manager of developer and

platform solutions for the Microsoft

Commercial Sector and an experienced

solution architect. In this role, he manages a

team of technical sales specialists focused on

promoting Microsoft’s development platform

and selling Microsoft’s development tools.

Tim brings to his position over ten years of

experience in business architecture,

development, and infrastructure.

Every retailer is fraught with worryabout its IT systems; uptime, security,software updates… the list ofconcerns is endless. But even if your

infrastructure is running perfectly, your usersmay still be losing productivity.

With the launch of Windows Vista, we wantto take the burden off the retailer. WindowsVista is the highest-quality version of Windowsthat we’ve ever produced. We’ve had morepeople test more builds than ever before, andthe result is increased usability and security.

It’s important to note that usability isn’t justabout how easy it is to get things done, butalso about the performance of the system as awhole. With Windows Vista the usability ofyour system can get better every day as theoperating system learns what you do andtailors itself to meet your needs. It does thisusing a new memory manager calledSuperFetch. This technology discovers usagepatterns and prepares commonly used databefore the user needs it.

Also to increase usability, we have developedfour search and information managementstrategies that satisfy the need for multi-channel integration and semantically searchingfor information. The Search and Find, Use andShare Information (FUSI) strategies focus onhow Microsoft integrated enterprisemanagement solutions can help individuals to

make the best business decisions, delivergreater business impact, and be as productiveas possible by enabling them to find, use andshare relevant business information morequickly, more easily and more securely. Searchand FUSI initiatives are tools that people canuse without specialist knowledge. These,teamed with our workflow, communicationand presentation tools (see panel) allow betteruse of information that will improve efficiency,reduce costs and increase sales.

Already there have been several successfuldeployments of Vista in the retail industry. FNACis an innovative retailer that sells cultural andconsumer electronics in stores and through itsWeb site. FNAC teamed with Microsoft and usedthe Windows Vista operating system to create anew smart client application for FNAC.com.Through this application, customers interactwith product information as never before,greatly enhancing the buying experience. FNACstores have also implemented the application onWindows Vista kiosks.

FNAC is therefore mirroring, on its Web site,the same, high-quality, informative help acustomer receives in a store. Not only doesFNAC expect to simplify the product selectionprocess and deliver a consistent buyingexperience (both in stores and online), but thecompany also expects to see an increase inproduct sales through its Web site.

With the smart client application, it’s easierfor customers to access product information,to compare products against one another andto view products more completely (now thatthey appear as dynamic three-dimensionalgraphics). In addition, one of the mostimportant highlights of the new smartapplication is that customers have multipleways to search for products. Now, customerscan search based on their usage or technicalneeds. For example, a customer looking for alaptop can specify the primary use of theproduct – such as multimedia – and instantlyaccess a list of products that meet therequirements for that use. Or, a customer canidentify specific technical needs and browseonly the items that match up.

The improved customer experience doesn’tstop online. Because FNAC is implementing thesame application on touch screen, in-storekiosks, customers can get all the informationthey need to make a purchasing decision, evenwhen a salesperson is not available.

Security is also an issue that’s always at theforefront of retailers’ minds. In a world inwhich a consumer is more likely to see yourcompany logo in a forged email than in one ofyour own publications, the need for security isparamount when it comes to handing overmoney. Vista offers InfoCard to simplify onlineauthentication and to help prevent digital

identity theft. It helps developers build Websites that are less susceptible to the mostcommon identity-related attacks such asphishing.

InfoCard reduces reliance on user names andpasswords by introducing a separate desktopand cryptographically strong claims-basedauthentication. Windows Vista is also the firstMicrosoft operating system to be designedunder the Secure Development Lifecycle, whichis Microsoft’s process for building more securesoftware. We also applied computer science tothe engineering process itself, usingautomated tools to search for code defectsand prevent them from ever entering theproduct. This means that end users are moreprotected out of the box.

In summary, Windows Vista can help yourbusiness use IT to gain a competitiveadvantage in retailing. Your people will be ableto find and use information more effectively,you will be able to support your mobileworkforce with better access to shared dataand collaboration tools, and your IT staff willhave better tools and technologies to enhancecorporate IT security, data protection, andmore efficient deployment and management.

FURTHER INFO:

www.windowsvista.com


viewpoint

Retail businessknowledgedesigned-in

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sandana Kichenane is the Microsoft Dynamics

retail industry sales lead for EMEA. His key

focus is business development and sales execu-

tion with retail, distribution and wholesale cus-

tomers and partners, across Europe, the Middle

East and Africa.

Completing an IT project in a retailorganisation is always challenging,often because of the variety of taskscarried out on a daily basis that it has

to support. The complexity of tasks differsgreatly in different parts of the business. Thereis more complexity among purchasing,distribution and accounts functions, but in thestore there is often a requirement for simplicityand clarity. Microsoft Dynamics applicationsare ideal for managing these differences .

For retailers, the crucial benefit of Dynamicsis the ability to extend the role of traditionalERP systems into areas such as customerrelationship management and point of sale.Managers can devise the best way to do thingsand then have that solution embedded into theapplications that their staff use. The ability ofDynamics’ to match the workflow of not justretail in general but the particular retailbusiness, results in more useful software thathelps staff with the organisation of their joband their interaction with other parts of thebusiness and external partners.

Large retailers, when building their verticalsolution, like to call upon Microsoft as a one-stop-shop to validate products and partners,sometimes across national borders, and to

guarantee quality through its own R&D.Microsoft Dynamics does this job, oftenexecuting a project and providing centralsupport through a license-based arrangement.

Microsoft’s partnerships also help to deliverindustry-leading solutions for retailers. Forexample, Dynamics POS is part of a completePC-based point of sale and integratedpayments solution that it will deliver with FirstData Corporation and HP. This all-in-onepackage combines First Data’s credit, debit andgift card payment processing, MicrosoftDynamics Point of Sale 2.0 and HP’s RP5000retail-hardened PC supported by a full line ofpoint of sale peripherals and warranties.

Microsoft has launched new versions ofDynamics to tie in with Windows Vista. For theretailer’s back office carrying out tasks such assupply chain management, the Vista operatingsystem will be a seamless upgrade for XP andthe Vista Server will replace Windows Server2003. Vista features will be very much morenoticeable in Dynamics 2.0, which nowproduces some sexy new graphs and ways ofhighlighting key performance indicators (KPIs).It also portrays events, such as orders for a lineof stock increasing, as animated graphics.

Dynamics provides a screen environment

that represents the work space and work roleof the user, with activities, calendar, contactsand other information as required. Users ofDynamics will find the interface the same as inOffice 2007 so there is no need for additionaltraining. They can also configure the menusand displays to their own work methods.

One of the biggest Dynamics developers forretail, Landsteiner, has developed very stableenterprise resource planning (ERP) systems forretailers in many different countries usingDynamics NAV, Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM.

For smaller retailers, the newly-introducedMicrosoft Dynamics Retail Management System(RMS) automates POS processes and storeoperations, provides centralised control formulti-store retailers, and integrates withMicrosoft Office system programs andMicrosoft Dynamics GP for accounting.

While RMS covers the retail chain, supplychain execution and consumer-driven planning,retailers should keep an eye out for newapplications that Microsoft’s partners will buildon top of the Dynamics platform. Theseapplications are built to meet particularbusiness requirements and the underlying Vistatechnology has further reduced the time tomarket for such solution-based software.

Microsoft is collaborating with partners thatare developing for micro-verticals, for examplefor textiles or timber and lumber. Thesecustomers get a highly specialised solution andthe full benefit of Dynamics. The KPIs, in thisinstance, both aggregated and in real time, areparticular to the micro-vertical.

A partner who knows the industry is a usefulally for a retailer that is perhaps hoping tomove from a legacy system but is worriedabout downtime during any migration to anew system. The partner will build theworkflow and customise the ERP to suitbusiness needs and project manage theimplementation.

Staff will be up and running quickly withfamiliar tools in an Office-style desktop andcan often train themselves through the useof step-by-step wizards. When staff makechanges to common data in the ERP, thedata will be updated in other Office tools,such as Outlook contacts. Staff can also pullERP data into Excel for manipulation or Wordfor reports.

FURTHER INFO:

www.microsoft.com/dynamics

When implementing IT, a retail business has to ask honestly: does itdo the job for me? Dynamics aims to be a true business-centricsolution, says Sandana Kichenane

LARGE RETAILERS, WHEN BUILDING THEIR

VERTICAL SOLUTION, LIKE TO CALL UPON

MICROSOFT AS A ONE-STOP SHOP TO

VALIDATE PRODUCTS AND PARTNERS

Sandana Kichenane

Microsoft

28 Retailspeak SPR I NG 2007 29SPR I NG 2007 Retailspeak

technology in action

Brøndby Stadium, home of Brøndby IF, issituated in the Greater Copenhagen area.The stadium was rebuilt in 2000 and nowhas a total capacity of 26,000 spectators,all of which can be seated.

In recent years, the company hasinvested around DKK 10 million (€1.34million) in improving facilities forspectators. The lounge facilities have beenenlarged and an air conditioning systeminstalled. In addition, investment has alsobeen made in improving the stands, thebooths and the toilet facilities, which allcontribute to greater spectator comfort.

When the referee blows for half time atBrøndby Stadium, a new match kicks off inthe sales booths, where all spectatorswant their half-time refreshments at thesame time. This involves an incrediblenumber of high-speed transactions thatleave thousands of pounds in an unsafeand chaotic system of cigar-boxes, withthe bookkeeping done in notebooks.

When it became necessary for the clubshop to update its stock control system, themanagement decided to use theopportunity to look for a financial systemthat would help this successful football clubget better control over the finances and thestock situation across the whole operation.

“We sat down and brainstormed to tryto find out where we would be in five orten years from now. We soon had visionsof POS terminals all over the place. Wewanted to find a system that would notlimit our future opportunities. It had to beable to deal with anything, regardless ofhow mad our ideas might seem,” saysBrøndby IF project leader, AndersBjerregaard.

The club decided to go for the LS Retailsolution supplied by Tectura, based onMicrosoft Dynamics NAV. “Tectura quitesimply had a system that includedeverything we needed and a bit more, sothe choice was easy,” says Bjerregaard.“As yet we have only started using thesystem in the club shop, but theexperience so far is very promising,everything has gone according to plan.”

Tectura has developed an interface forthe club’s financial system with MicrosoftDynamics NAV in the centre, connected totouchscreens in the club shop and Dankortterminals that can also be used with theclub’s own cards. The terminals can beused for both MSR and DataChips – andeven barcode readers.

“The sponsors have a barcode on theircard and in the course of the summer we

will issue new cards with a magnetic stripfor all our members. The idea is thatwithin a year from now the users will beable to recharge their cards themselvesand use the member-cards and sponsor-cards all over the stadium,” saysBjerregaard.

Bjerregaard is particularly impressedwith the touchscreens used with the POSterminals, as they can be easily modifiedto suit exactly the products available ateach point of sale.

“We can do exactly what suits us. Weplan to combine the present day hot-dogand beer booths with bigger booths withmore choice of items, but each item canstill get its own button on the touch-screen. As simple as possible is our goal,and I think we can reach it.

“All of this should help speed up theservice rate and improve the workconditions for the volunteers in thevendor booths.”

Bjerregaard expects that the new POSsystem will be implemented throughoutthe operations of the club in the course ofthe coming year. The implementation ofthe POS terminals will be completed in thebooths in the end stands. “This will be apowerful tool to provide us with

information on what is selling, where andwhen. Today we lack the necessary controlso we are very much looking forward tohaving the new system in place.”

“Our continued development ofsolutions that meet industry specificbusiness requirements is key to oursuccess – in terms of sales as well as clientsatisfaction,” says Tectura president TerryPetrzelka. “With Microsoft supportingindustry focused partners such as Tectura,a powerful ecosystem has been createdwhere clients receive unmatched valuefrom solutions that truly fit their businessand help them excel.”

FURTHER INFO:

www.brondby.com

www.lsretail.com

www.tectura.co.uk

xINzBRIEF

Company

Brøndby IF

Challenge

The 26,000 capacity football

stadium required a future-proof

financial system that would

enable better security and

control

Solution

LS Retail solution supplied by

Tectura, based on Microsoft

Dynamics NAV

Benefits

• Flexible, future-proof system

• Increased security and control

• Improved level of service

• Improved working conditions

Country/Region

Denmark

BRØNDBY PUTSLS RETAIL ANDTECTURA ON THE TEAMBrøndby was in desperate need of a new finance system to cover amultitude of needs. Tectura implemented the LS Retail solution,based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, delivering many benefitsincluding better control and improved service

TECTURA QUITE SIMPLY HAD A SYSTEM THAT

INCLUDED EVERYTHING WE NEEDED AND A

BIT MORE, SO THE CHOICE WAS EASY. AS YET

WE HAVE ONLY STARTED USING THE SYSTEM

IN THE CLUB SHOP, BUT THE EXPERIENCE SO

FAR IS VERY PROMISING, EVERYTHING HAS

GONE ACCORDING TO PLAN

Anders Bjerregaard

Brøndby IF



Since its first mail-order catalogue in 1950,Otto Group has always sought retailinnovation by introducing new distributionmethods, customer channels, and shoppingexperiences. It was first in its industry touse telephone ordering, to produce a CD-ROM version of its catalogue in the 1990s,and to build out one of the largestcollections of online merchandise. Today,Otto Group is the world’s number one mail-order company and the number two onlineretailer.

Otto wanted to build a virtual store forfashion apparel – a shopping experiencethat would break through perceivedbarriers in online shopping. Working withMicrosoft, Microsoft Gold Certified partnerATE Software, and design specialists fromSinnerSchrader, Otto built the Otto Storeapplication that takes full advantage of theMicrosoft .NET Framework 3.0programming model and other WindowsVista operating system capabilities. Thesolution provides customers with stunningvisuals, interaction with friends, and securee-commerce functions.

The company believed that even the beste-commerce sites performed poorly when itcame to converting shoppers to buyers,especially in retail apparel. Fashion-mindedcustomers want to be able to examinearticles closely, explore product details, and

see how different pieces of clothing looktogether. And they want to browseintuitively, without having to adhere totraditional Web site navigation schemes.

“Otto Group saw that, by creating a high-fidelity and easy-to-use shoppingexperience, we could ease online shoppingpain points and increase sales. There is stilltremendous potential to be realised in retailtechnology. We want to be first to reapthose gains,” says Thomas Schnieders, vicepresident for e-commerce and marketing,Otto Group.

Aimed at women fashion enthusiasts inEurope, the virtual store needed tointroduce entirely new e-commercefeatures like community tools and drag-and-drop user controls.

“With Windows Vista technologies, wecould do things like integrate video offashion models wearing a featured articleand allow shoppers to share outfit ideaswith friends. Regular Web technologyconstrains media to its own separatewindow or a frame in a Web page, butWindows Presentation Foundationintegrates media deeply into theexperience,” says Roland von Gehlen, vicepresident for software development, OttoGroup.

Otto Store is a smart client that takesadvantage of local hardware and software

resources for a rich and responsive userexperience, but also integrates deeply withWeb resources. The smart client approachalso means Otto Store is available whenshoppers are not connected to the internet.

Customers can download the Otto Storeapplication onto their computers andbrowse a range of branded apparel andaccessories. Otto Store offers functions thatare not available or are difficult toimplement on traditional e-commerce Websites, including the ability to see sets ofclothing together, dynamically zoom in onimage details, or easily access fashionvideos. Community tools allow shoppers toshare notes with friends.

“With Otto Store, we wanted to makeonline shopping fun and entertaining. Ourgoal is to stir emotions and to motivatecustomers, not just address their basicneeds,” says Schnieders. “In the end, anenhanced user experience will driveincreased revenue per customer and attractnew customers.”

Otto Store also makes use of WindowsSidebar and Gadgets (Web-drivenapplications), to provide convenient accessto key Otto Store functions and informationwithout having to open the full application.

To establish closer relationships withshoppers and communicate new productand sales announcements, Otto Group used

the Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget function.“In the past, online retailers would try topull customers to the Web site, but withWindows Vista Gadget, we cancommunicate the latest information directlyon their desktops,” says von Gehlen.

Otto Group and its partners built OttoStore in five months with a team of sixdevelopers. The project team used VisualStudio 2005 and the .NET Framework 3.0components: Windows PresentationFoundation, Windows CommunicationFoundation, and Windows CardSpace.

“We agree with Microsoft’s SmarterRetailing Initiative, which recognises anopportunity to transform the relationshipbetween customer and retailer throughtechnology, especially at points ofinteraction. Our new Otto Store applicationis an entirely new shopping experience thattakes advantage of Windows Vistatechnologies for unmatched style,convenience, and security,” says Schnieders.

Because Otto Group is a leading retailbrand in Europe, it enjoys enhancedcredibility in its e-commerce endeavours.Windows CardSpace allows Otto Group tocapitalise on its position as a trusted onlineretailer by introducing a new, easier way forcustomers to authenticate themselves andmanage their online identities. Instead ofhaving to sign in and remember a password,

Otto Store customers use WindowsCardSpace to present preconfigured onlineidentity cards.

“Windows CardSpace is an incrediblyeasier way to manage online identities andhelps to differentiate the Otto Storeexperience. CardSpace will help protectcustomers and validate their confidence inour brand,” affirms Schnieders.

Otto Store is part of Otto Group’s effortsto extend its e-commerce reach. Today, Webcontent and services are moving outside ofthe Web browser and onto the Windowsdesktop and mobile devices. Because OttoStore is a smart client that operates on thePC, Otto Group believes it will reach morecustomers and tap more revenueopportunities.

“Windows Vista allows us to add so muchmore to the shopping experience than ispossible over the Web. Windows Vistacapabilities will be used to deliver television,digital photography, music, and video – OttoGroup wants to extend the Vista experienceto shopping, as well,” enthuses von Gehlen.

FURTHER INFO:

www.otto.de

www.ate-software.net

xINzBRIEF

Company

Otto Group

Challenge

To solidify its position as an

innovative retail leader, Otto

Group wanted to build a virtual

store that overcame many

traditional barriers in e-commerce

Solution

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and

Windows Vista technologies

Benefits

• Fun and emotive shopping

experience for customers

• Convenient security

• Extended reach and flexibility

• Efficient development

Country/Region

Germany

NEW FASHIONSHOPPING EXPERIENCEOtto Group has gone beyond the Web and developed an e-commercesmart client that shoppers can download to experience a new kind ofshopping environment

WITH OTTO STORE, WE WANTED TO

MAKE ONLINE SHOPPING FUN AND

ENTERTAINING. OUR GOAL IS TO STIR

EMOTIONS AND TO MOTIVATE

CUSTOMERS, NOT JUST ADDRESS THEIR

BASIC NEEDS

Thomas Schnieders

Otto Group



Everards, a family-owned brewer and pubcompany in Leicestershire, UK, has adoptedthe DrinkIT business management solution tosupport it as it moves ahead with companywide growth. K3, the UK’s largest MicrosoftDynamics solution provider, is supplying andimplementing this drinks market solutionthat has already proven itself in thebusinesses of a number of other brewers andpub chains.

Everards is a regional brewer, aphenomenon in the UK that combinesbrewing tradition – 150 years worth in thecase of Everards – with a pub propertyestate, usually run as a separate entity and asa channel for the brewer’s own beer brands.

Everards has 161 pubs that vary from citycentre venues and community locals tovillage inns and all of them are within a 70mile radius of the Leicestershire brewery.Everards is in a very competitivemarketplace, in which large groups of pubsare constantly being bought, sold andamalgamated as part of property portfoliosby banks and investment houses, whilesmaller pub chains are regularly createdfrom an individual entrepreneur’s one goodidea for customer service or branding.

Brewing and pub retailing is a dynamicbusiness sector at the moment ascompanies, old and new, try to get a shareof the leisure pound. One of Everards’competitive advantages is that it brews

award-winning ales, including BeaconBitter, Tiger Best Bitter, Premium AleOriginal and Sunchaser Blonde.

The company cleverly uses its brewingtradition to differentiate its pub offering.Recently, to develop its customers’ interest inits products, and in line with its owninnovation policy, Everards has been workingwith consumer organisation CAMRA(Campaign for Real Ale) to introduce a newform of tasting notes for real ale. The resultis the ‘Cyclops’ tasting notes, which Everardsdesigned to demystify real ales for bar staffand drinkers alike, helping them to chooseand compare real ales.

Such has been its success that CAMRA hasdeveloped Cyclops as a universal real aletasting scheme. Tony Jerome, CAMRA’s seniormarketing manager, explains: “Cyclops useseasy to understand descriptions anddistinctive eye, nose and mouth symbols tohelp inform and educate occasional or newreal ale drinkers of what different beers look,smell and taste like before they even try orbuy a beer. Cyclops also promotes the styleand strength of the beer and gives each realale a score out of five for how bitter andsweet the beer is.”

David Bremner, head of marketing forEverards and the inspiration behind Cyclops,says: “For Cyclops to continue having animpact on the real ale market, more Cyclopspartners need to produce eye catching point

of sale material and distribute to the pubsacross Britain.”

Service is vital in the modern pub and barbusiness. Technology plays its part byproviding point of sale systems to help staffbehind the bar, while also automating manyhead office operations.

Ian Smith, Everards IT manager and projectsponsor, says: “As Everards expands andevolves we need to keep pace with theincreasing demand for high quality systems,services and information and it is essentialthat we upgrade now and finally put in placethe last piece of the jigsaw and integrate allour systems.”

Smith continues: “We have been workingtowards an integrated software platform forsome years now and K3’s Microsoft Dynamicsbased Drink-IT system will be the centrepieceof that platform. It offers us the scope todevelop in-house systems and services as wellas integrating third party software seamlesslywithin the Dynamics framework.”

Everards undertook a nine month longreview to examine the functionality itrequired both now and in the future and finda solution that both integrated with itscurrent systems and services and provided itwith the scope for flexible development.

Smith says: “K3’s knowledge andexperience with Dynamics and theirunderstanding of this business sector,together with the fact that they have already

had experience of converting our currentsystem to Dynamics, have been key factors inmaking the decision. We believe that ourpartnership with K3 will enable Everards tomove forward with confidence in theintegrity of our systems and data.”

Everards has adopted the ordering, financeand property elements of DrinkIT and will golive in May 2007.

As the UK’s largest provider of MicrosoftDynamics, K3 (part of K3 BusinessTechnology Group) provides businesssoftware solutions for the brewing andbeverage industry, built around thecomplete Microsoft technology stack.

As a Gold Level Partner, and with 25 yearsof experience, K3’s implementations employa structured approach that focuses ondelivering unique competitive advantageswithin an agreed performance structure.

K3’s sales director Paul Makin commented:“More and more often, this market is lookingfor integrated solutions. This win is furtherproof that we have the ideal solution forhospitality and leisure companies thatcombine a range of activities, in this caseboth brewing and pub management.”

FURTHER INFO:

www.everards.co.uk

www.k3btg.co.uk

xINzBRIEF

Company

Everards

Challenge

The integration of all IT systems

to provide a single platform for

the company’s growth plans

Solution

IT business management solution

based on Microsoft technology

stack

Benefits

• Integrated systems and data

• Modular implementation,

starting with property,

ordering and finance

• Integrates third-party software

Country/Region

United Kingdom

EVERARDS ADOPTSPLATFORM FORGROWTHAfter working towards an integrated system for some years, brewerand pub company Everards has chosen a solution to pull together itsexisting IT and provide scope for flexible development

WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOWARDS AN

INTEGRATED SOFTWARE PLATFORM FOR

SOME YEARS NOW AND K3’S MICROSOFT

DYNAMICS BASED DRINK-IT SYSTEM WILL

BE THE CENTREPIECE OF THAT PLATFORM

Ian Smith

Everards



Founded in 1898 in Berlin, Edeka is one of theleading grocery retail concerns in Europe, witha turnover exceeding €38 billion and a marketshare of approximately 25 per cent.

In Germany Edeka consists of theheadquarters in Hamburg and seven regionalcompanies, delivering 10,834 connected shopswith goods. Outside Germany the group isrepresented in Austria, Denmark, the CzechRepublic and Russia.

The German retail trade has to deal withstocktaking differences of €4 billion in 2005.Around 44 per cent of this is accounted for byweaknesses in organisation and employeecrime. The retail trade spends €925 millionevery year on measures intended to limit andreduce these types of losses.

For this reason, 82 per cent of decisionmakers in the retail trade acknowledge theneed for the development andimplementation of more efficient audit tools.

Experts agree that employee crime isparticularly hard to detect and identify. UweSchmidt, chief auditor for Edeka Hessenring,describes the problem simply: “Basically wedo not wish to accuse any employee ofintending to manipulate. However,unfortunately the inventory differences thatwe discover do paint another picture.” AtEdeka Hessenring there are four auditors forapproximately 4,300 employees. With a datavolume of more than 36 million bookinglines per month for Edeka’s 73 markets and

branches, this is a Sisyphean task.For this reason, Edeka looked for an analysis

instrument with which it could evaluatetransaction data according to various criteria,both systematically and quickly, in order toreveal irregularities as quickly as possible. Theanalysis instrument had to be able to workindependently of the cash register, since likeevery large retail trade organisation Edeka hasacquired hardware from a variety of suppliersin cash register zones. The tool needed toprovide high performance with the lowestpossible system requirements. And finally,return on investment (ROI) played a decisiverole in investment considerations.

Among the solutions which EdekaHessenring (one of Edeka’s regionalcompanies) subjected to a benchmark testwas the storeMate loss prevention systemfrom Toshiba, developed on Microsoft .NET.This powerful controlling analysisinstrument stood out from the crowdthanks to certain unique features. One ofthese features was lightning-fast patentedAssociative Query Logic (AQL) technology,which permits a cash register receiptanalysis of all transaction data in real time.

StoreMate integrates closely with standardtools such as Microsoft Office, making it easyfor staff to get at information, and wasdeveloped in assocation with Microsoft’sSmarter Retailing initiative. Joachim Jäger,section manager at Toshiba professional

service in Krefeld, recalls the development ofstoreMate loss prevention: “We developedstoreMate loss prevention in order to be ableto systematically identify and uncovermanipulations and organisational weaknessesin the retail trade. Unlike previous analysisinstruments, which only pick out unusualevents by their frequency, for examplecancellations or deposit returns, storeMateloss prevention does far more. WithstoreMate it is possible to recognise theindividual pattern in the method in question.This is particularly important, because thereis no limit to the imagination of those tryingto fool the system.”

The audit department has a controllingand analysis instrument in storeMate withwhich all detailed information can be easilyevaluated at any time, in real-time mode, atthe shop level right down to the individualcash register receipt. Numerous checkingcriteria, such as cancellations, empty bottles,staff purchase, discount, cut-price, or bargainare already predefined. An extension of thecheck criteria can be carried out at any time.

Staff require no specialised databaseexpertise and the results are presented ingraphs and spreadsheets that can beexported in all conventional file formats.Thanks to the intelligent data modeldeveloped by Toshiba, it is possible to usestoreMate loss prevention to form a datawarehouse and archive journal data.

The business intelligence (BI) tool permitsthe representation of even complexorganisational structures, such asdistribution lines, regions and branch stores,area managers, market managers andcashiers, right down to individual cashregister receipt. The intuitive user interfaceand practical drill-down functionality permitfreely defined ad hoc queries.

A powerful report generator with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop function rounds off theBI functionality and permits simple andproblem-free securing of evidence.

Schmidt says: “Menu management is clearand self-explanatory, and the applicationitself is simple to use. Following selection ofappropriate checking criteria, the results arerepresented in tables and expressivegraphics. Irregularities stand out clearly.

“We can recognise at a glance whetherindividual markets or cash register stationsdeviate from the norm. This may be, forexample, the quantity of cancellations orrefunds for bottle deposits according to anindividual pattern. In such cases we can theninvestigate more exactly before takingcountermeasures. A further advantage ofstoreMate loss prevention lies in the rapidevaluation of information. This allows us totake action against manipulation and thoseresponsible without any unnecessary delay.”

“With storeMate we are permanently onthe ball. Furthermore, we can also check

earlier discrepancy and inventory periodsmore easily. In the process we can go backthree or four years without any problems.However, our focus is not only on damagedetection and damage limitation. The rangeof tasks also includes checking and thereforethe improvement of the quality of the workin general. This includes, for example, thetraining standards of the employees,checking the labelling quality, the dailymanagement of price look up (PLU) numbers,for example in fruit and vegetabledepartments, or monitoring the sales ofspecial offers, here especially to ensure thatpeople are buying in the usual quantities.”

And Schmidt sees even more potential andpossible uses: “With storeMate lossprevention we obtain an overview of allrelevant data. Thus storeMate loss preventionas a general analysis instrument providesimportant data, which can be used toimprove personnel management. Otherevaluations could reflect our product rangeand supply us with the current purchasingpatterns of our customers. Furthermore, inthe analysis instrument we see the potentialto improve our organisational structure.”

FURTHER INFO:

www.edeka.de

www.toshibatec-eu.de

xINzBRIEF

Company

Edeka

Challenge

Like many retailers, Edeka wants

more efficient audit tools to

reveal costly irregularities

Solution

storeMate loss prevention from

Toshiba TEC; Microsoft .NET

Framework and Visual Studio .NET

for quick localisation and

customisation

Benefits

• Real-time loss prevention

• Works across different POS

types

• Provides additional business

intelligence

Country/Region

Europe

EFFECTIVE LOSSPREVENTION TOOL ALSOOFFERS BI BENEFITSEdeka’s auditors, who check 36 million booking lines permonth in their efforts to prevent loss, are using the latestpattern matching techniques

WITH STOREMATE LOSS PREVENTION

WE ARE PERMANENTLY ON THE BALL.

FURTHERMORE, WE CAN ALSO CHECK

EARLIER DISCREPANCY AND INVENTORY

PERIODS MORE EASILY

Uwe Schmidt

Edeka Hessenring



Vue, the UK’s largest operator of modernmultiplex cinemas, has completed a majorIT overhaul which involved adding newpoint of sale and head office technology toits multi-screen cinemas nationwide, whichnumber more than 50. Around 700 pointof sale terminals and 150 self-servicekiosks have been installed withVcstimeless Vista software, an integratedretail and hospitality system developedspecifically for cinemas running onWindows Server 2003.

Voice recognition software and onlineticketing solutions are also part of thequeue-busting project, along withadditional modules for improvedmanagement of the business, includingextra analytical functions, cashmanagement, film programming and backoffice reporting tools. The kiosks and pointof sale systems were installed during a six-month rollout, at a rate of two cinemasper week.

Vue Entertainment formed in May 2003following the acquisition of Warner VillageCinemas by SBC International Cinemas. It isthe largest operator of modern multiplexcinemas in the UK. It is also the marketleader in the critical London market andhas the second largest market share interms of box office in the UK. Vue plans toopen almost 20 new sites in the next two-

three years and is currently completing therefurbishment of all Vue cinema foyers.

According to Roland Jones, IT director atVue, new self-service kiosks for ticketcollection, online booking, and anintegrated system will mean thatcustomers will no longer have to queuerepeatedly when they want to buy drinksor popcorn from concession stands. For the550-screen circuit attracting over 30million customers a year, improvedreporting, stock control and staffmanagement will lead to reductions inoperating costs, he says.

“The new system is allowing us toreduce the strain at peak times and allowsus to be more efficient at quieter timesthrough the use of a single point of sale.What’s more, having the right number ofpeople at the right time means moreefficient use of staff. And now thatcustomers can pick up their tickets atconcession stands, we are seeing an upliftin hit rates, which is adding additionalsales per person. All newly installed sitesare well on their way to hitting orexceeding their business case,” says Jones.

Other benefits cited include considerablyless paperwork, from what was previouslya spreadsheet-driven operation withlargely manual processes – for planningstaff rotas, or film schedules – to an

automated system uploaded directly fromhead office. Staff claim the touch-screensystem to be much easier to use; andmanagement benefit from better informeddecision-making, such as film programmingbased on regional, weekly takings, asopposed to gut instinct or personal tastes.

Queue busting, particularly at weekends,is also said to be extremely effective,because customers can now go to any till.At quiet times, such as late at night, Jonessays that labour costs have been reduced,because traditionally they always had tohave staff in the box office area at the sametime as the food and drink stands.

“By offering a Ticket at any Till optionand ATMs at which you can purchase aswell as collect pre-booked tickets, theservice levels we can offer our guests haveimproved beyond recognition,” says SteveKnibbs, chief operating officer at Vue. “Theintroduction of one integrated state-of-the-art operating system across the circuit willgive us a competitive advantage over ourrivals as it will allow us the opportunity tooffer better customer service, more choiceand easier ways for us to offer new ideas insales and promotions.”

Vue, which has grown through theacquisitions of various cinema chains, founditself with a number of outdated systems,and Jones says that a single integrated

solution for the entire estate was a majorfactor in upgrading its existing systems tothe Vista retail system through Vcstimeless.A return on investment for the multi-million pound project is expected withinthree years, he says, and the efficienciesgenerated so far have far exceeded allexpectations.

The six-month project remained on timeand on budget throughout, thanks to thededication of a seven-strong Vcstimelessteam working closely with Roland Jonesand his team of six Vue engineers and sixtrainers. Weekly operations meetings,monthly steering group meetings, eventsand monthly newsletters ensured the 1,000plus man-day rollout, project-namedChicago, remained on track.

The Vista solution first went live in theHarrow pilot site followed by the remainingVue estate at a rate of one per week,switching to two per week from about half-way through. The system is now used bymore than 1,000 users on site and by 20 athead office.

FURTHER INFO:

www.myvue.com

www.vcstimeless.co.uk

xINzBRIEF

Company

Vue Entertainment

Challenge

Having grown through

acquisition, Vue had a number of

outdated IT systems and it

wanted to give customer service

a boost beyond its rivals’ offerings

Solution

WAN running on Windows

Server 2003 Web Edition, SQL

Server 2005 database, with

Windows Server 2003 at each

site, kiosks running Windows XP

Benefits

• Self-service kiosks for tickets

• Single point of sale for tickets

and concessions

• Cuts down on paperwork

• Better business intelligence

Country/Region

UK

CINEMA CHAIN IMPROVESCUSTOMER SERVICE WITHQUEUE-BUSTING PROJECTBy using new queue-busting kiosks and point of sale, themanagement at Vue cinemas is improving service levels and usingstaff more efficiently

THE SERVICE LEVELS WE CAN OFFER OUR

GUESTS HAVE IMPROVED BEYOND

RECOGNITION

Steve Knibbs

Vue Entertainment


research and analysis

THE LATEST MARKET RESEARCH FIGURES

RE

SE

AR

CH

& A

NA

LYS

ISth

e la

test

mar

ket

rese

arch

The most successful retailers carry a higher proportionof own-label products, according to a new Sourcingand Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) BenchmarkStudy conducted by Retail Systems Alert GroupResearch (RSAG), and sponsored by Eqos. The studyconfirms the importance of own-label merchandise indriving sales and sustained growth for retailers. Basedon survey responses and interviews with nearly 150executives and managers representing retailers andsuppliers from around the world with annual revenuesranging from less than US$50 million to more thanUS$5 billion, the study found that retail winners(those who outperform their peers in year-over-yearcomparable store sales) carry a significantly higherpercentage of private label merchandise than theircompetitors. These same leading retailers also achievebetter return on inventory investments andoutperform competitors in overall gross marginimprovements.

“Own-label merchandise – typically imported – isnow ubiquitous across all retail sectors,” says PaulaRosenblum, the report’s author and vice president,research and content development for RSAG. “With thisshift, sourcing and product lifecycle managementsolutions have emerged as important technologyenablers within the retail enterprise. These tools helpoffset the loss of control and potentially slowerresponsiveness associated with long-distancemanufacturing. The study is significant and timelybecause it takes a hard look at the implications of thiscritical industry shift.”

The Sourcing and PLM Benchmark Study uncoveredother key industry changes. After a decade of reverseauctions and bidding events designed to drive cost outof merchandise without regard to impact on suppliers,RSAG found retailers today are beginning to developlonger term, collaborative relationships with trustedsuppliers. Winning retailers, according to Rosenblum,are leveraging technologies to manage theserelationships, as well as for product development,supplier audits, managing and tracking merchandisestatus, and self-managing freight, all of whichultimately drive gross margin and sales improvements.

Jane Biddle, Eqos’ chief marketing officer, says:“This is a unique study because it examines not onlyimportant growth and sourcing trends across theglobal marketplace, but it also identifies several keychallenges and opportunities that retailers face intoday’s fiercely competitive environment. For nearly adecade, Eqos has worked with a number of theworld’s largest retailers. The challenges they’ve lookedto us to address such as supplier collaboration, factoryaudit support, product lifecycle management, andsupply chain visibility mirror the issues and concernsthat are presented in this study.”

The graph below, taken from Sourcing and ProductLifecycle Management Benchmark Study conducted byRetail Systems Alert Group Research (RSAG), show theresults from one of the questions put by RSAG: whatvalue do you associate with technology enablers? Thefull study is available for download at www.eqos.com.

OWN-LABEL MERCHANDISE DRIVING SALES

Supply chain visibility software

Spreadsheets

Supplier audits

Lead time optimisation

Electronic invoice presentment & payment

Sourcing software

Supplier registration

Forecasting engines

Contract management software

Sofware to support bidding events

Product lifecycle management software

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

85%

83%

82%

81%

78%

77%

76%

74%

74%

69%

68%

Supply chain visibility tops all technologies

VALUABLE TECHNOLOGY RESULTS

40

downtime

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

Speaking at the 2007 International ConsumerElectronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Bill Gatesunveiled several new products and services thatinclude new Windows Vista-inspired PCs, never-before-seen Windows Vista features, anIPTV-enabled Xbox 360, and a new partnershipwith Ford Motors that will extend digitalexperiences to the car. The company alsounveiled Microsoft Windows Home Server, whichprovides a central place to help store, protectand access all the digital content in the home.

“As the magic of software makes it easier forpeople to be creators, publishers and consumersof digital content, it is expanding the way wethink about community and entertainment,”said Gates. “From your living room to your car,we’re delivering a wave of new softwareproducts and services that make it easier for youto manage your day-to-day lives, express yourideas and share your interests.”

Gates provided a first look at a number ofWindows Vista features. For example, WindowsDreamScene transforms the PC desktop fromstatic background wallpaper into a full-motion,personalised video canvas. Gates also unveiled aseries of exciting new Windows Vista-poweredPCs that ranged from innovative desktopdesigns to ultra-portable models.

With its powerful graphics capabilities,advanced parental controls, and connectivity to

the Live games and entertainment network,Windows Vista will capture the imagination of 200million PC gamers. Titles such as Age of Conan:Hyborian Adventures and Crysis offer some of thesmoothest, most lifelike visual experiencesavailable on any gaming platform. Microsoft alsoshowed off Shadowrun and Halo 2 for WindowsVista, the first of many titles that will enablegamers on Windows Vista to connect with friendson Xbox 360 through the Live network

In a move that will combine the power ofXbox 360 with Microsoft TV IPTV Edition,Microsoft is soon to launch a new service, IPTVon Xbox 360. The offering is expected to deliverworld-class TV experiences such as digital videorecording capabilities, with gaming, film viewing,and even voice and video communications.Tapping into an expanded set of entertainmentexperiences, users will be able to watch theirfavourite sporting event live while chatting withtheir friends, for example, or participate in amatch on Xbox Live while they record a TVprogramme in the background.

Gates introduced Windows Home Server, anew software product for families with multiplePCs that want to connect their home computers,digital devices and printers to help easily store,protect and share their rapidly expandingcollections of digital content and entertainment.Windows Home Server automatically backs uphome PCs and provides a central location forstoring a family’s photographs, music, videosand documents.

Gates also announced a partnership betweenMicrosoft and Ford to deliver Sync, a voice-activated, intelligent means to connect personalelectronic devices to vehicles, including a widerange of mobile phones, storage media, andportable music players such as Zune.

Sync, developed by Ford and based on theMicrosoft Auto platform, will offer hands-freedialling, address-book synchronisation, and otherfeatures such as the ability to read textmessages through the car’s audio system.Drivers can also control their digital musicplayers using voice commands or controls onthe steering wheel. In addition, the MicrosoftAuto software is easily updatable, so Sync canintegrate new devices as they are introduced,with a simple software upgrade.

HOME OF THE FUTUREFrom your living room to your car, Microsoft is delivering a newgeneration of products that will change the world of consumertechnology. Lindsay James reports

Retailspeak SPR I NG 2007

WE’RE DELIVERING A WAVE OF NEW

SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

THAT MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO

MANAGE YOUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES

Bill Gates

Microsoft

foundations for selling windows vista availability and security...

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