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SAP Ganges extends the power of HANA to small-time retails

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Soma Tah
New Update

BANGALORE, INDIA: SAP AG today announced SAP Ganges, a business network built on the SAP HANA cloud platform that connects the last mile in retail consisting of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies, distributors, banks, and retail stores.

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Technology is reshaping the world around us and is removing barriers across geographies and businesses. Customers are seeking out the best offers, the best prices, and the best service levels with the help of real-time data. It has become imperative for CPG companies to work off a foundation of optimal processes across their entire value chain. The SAP HANA cloud platform powers the business network with real-time data on a massive scale.

Vishal Sikka, member of the Executive Board of SAP AG, Products and Innovation, said: "With SAP Ganges, we have shown that SAP HANA has the ability to transform and evolve entire industries in India. SAP HANA is helping connect businesses of all sizes in real-time: from the millions of kirana stores; to the large CPG companies serving them, and the financial institutions supporting them; by bringing new value to all points along this network and empowering people to conduct businesses in a totally open, transparent and real-time way."

Developed in India for the Indian market, SAP Ganges is a business network offering seamless connectivity for CPG companies to the last mile of their supply chain, which consists of millions of unorganized retail stores. Other partners in the business network are: distributors of the consumer product companies; banks, which provide credit to the retailers; value-added services providers; telecom services providers which enable remote connectivity; and manufacturers of affordable point-of-sale (POS) devices.

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Conceptualized through intensive design thinking-based co-innovation with leading industry players, SAP Ganges offers a range of holistic offerings for different stakeholders including:

CPG companies: enabling visibility through reporting and forecasting based on sales information aggregated from the retail stores. In addition, they can use SAP Ganges as a direct marketing channel to reach retail stores.

Distributors: providing the distributor to take orders, track inventory at the retail stores, and to allow them to receive payments digitally.

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Banks: enabling banks to assess credit eligibility of retailers and to adjust credit limit periodically based on retail store sales.

Retail Stores: enabling retail stores to connect to business network using PoS devices and to access business services.

According to the India Brand Equity Foundation, the Indian fast moving consumer goods sector consisting of personal care, household care, and food products was valued at $36.8bn in FY2011-12; and is one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world. Following the release in India, SAP plans to roll out SAP Ganges to other retail-intensive economies such as Brazil, South Africa, China and Indonesia.