Posted Date: 1/5/2011

Flexibility and Functionality

By Adam Blair

Mid-Size Retailers’ Pick
Activant Solutions was named Top Vendor for Mid-Size Retailers in the 2010 RIS Software LeaderBoard, and was ranked fourth in the Top 20. Recent go-lives include Jerry’s Artarama, Lifechek Drug, Kopp Drug, Shipton’s Big R, Atwoods and Craft Warehouse.

Multiple Go-Lives
Ultra Diamonds, Jay’s Sporting Goods and the U.S. Navy’s ship stores all went live on Celerant Technology in November. Celerant recently launched a mobile commerce application, and the company was ranked fourth in the 2010 RIS Software LeaderBoard.

One Stop for Store Tech
Danier Leather recently upgraded its store systems and selected Fujitsu as its one-stop shop for retail technology. Fujitsu deployed solutions including its GlobalSTORE POS software, CustomerCENTER CRM management application, StoreCENTER centralized store management software and TeamPoS hardware and iPAD handheld units.

International Activity
X5 Retail Group, a Russian retailer with more than 1,600 stores, will have an ongoing rollout of GK Software throughout this year, and Jysk Nordic, a leading European home furnishings retailer, will roll out GK Software solutions in China, Bosnia and Slovakia in 2011.

Managing its Retail Suite
Island Pacific now provides managed services for its suite of solutions at retailer Five Below. The suite includes Store, the Island Pacific Point of Sale and Store Operations solution. “Island Pacific’s managed services solution will support and maintain our ERP and POS systems at lower costs and with much less infrastructure than managing them in-house,” said Chris DeMeester, vice president of information technology at Five Below.

Multi-Store and Multi-Channel
Version 7.7 of JDA Point-of-Sale includes integrated cross-store and cross-channel selling capabilities. JDA Software had seven retail go-lives in 2010, including Anna’s Linens and Mountain Equipment Co-Op.

Suite Deal for Kids Club
Retailer Kids Club will implement a suite of Jesta I.S. solutions including Vision Store, Vision Merchandising, Vision Planning and Vision Analytics to manage its operations. Jesta I.S. plans to introduce its Vision CRM solution at the NRF Big Show 2011.

Checking Customers’ Age
Magstar was awarded the 2010 Innovation Solution Award from RIS News sister publication Vertical Systems Reseller for its age verification solution, which instantly verifies a customer’s age for liquor store purchases. Paragon Drugs recently chose Magstar as its ERP solution provider.

Compact Designs
NCR recently introduced two new POS solutions to its RealPOS line: the NCR RealPOS 40 and the NCR RealPOS 60. They offer high performance, greater energy efficiency and a more compact size.

Automating WIC Transactions
Tejas Grocery combined JPMA Retail Software Solutions with Pioneer POS Stealth-M5 touch computers to automate its Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program. The nine-store chain deployed 25 units chainwide, installing them both inside stores and at drive-through windows. The drive-through solution preserved the convenience of this offering while still meeting WIC compliance requirements. In addition, Pioneer POS has now integrated an Epson printer into its Stealth S-Line series of touchscreen terminals.

POS for Pop-Up Stores
Beyond the Wall, a poster, prints and novelties retailer with five stores and 75 mobile pop-up stores, has implemented Retail Anywhere’s POS and retail management system. The five permanent stores are in high traffic areas while the pop-up stores travel to various college campuses in spring and fall. Retail Anywhere’s POS software solution fits both models and provides real-time inventory information, a major concern for the pop-up stores.



The Good Life
Life is Good, Inc. has selected the RICS Enterprise platform as its preferred retail software for its corporate locations as well as all 106 Genuine Neighborhood Shoppes in more than 35 countries. “We’re confident the RICS Enterprise platform will create a greater opportunity for us and for our independent shop owners to improve the health of our businesses,” said Bert Jacobs, co-founder and chief executive optimist of Life is Good, Inc.

SaaS Management Model
Apparel retailer Vineyard Vines has implemented retail applications for inventory control, BI and POS that will be managed through RPE’s Software as a Service model. The JDA Software applications replace those developed in-house. “We needed a core system with the functionality and scalability to support our growing retail business,” said Mike Gaumer, the retailer’s CEO.

Service and Support Solutions
Telaid offers end-to-end service and support solutions for retail technologies, with experience in POS, kiosks, digital signage and more. The company has a national service delivery team with technicians in all 50 states, allowing Telaid to manage projects ranging from tens to thousands of sites. Rapid deployments and a proven ability to deliver on tight deadlines are followed up with 24/7 support and break/fix service.