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SAP reinforces leadership in retail industry

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: With over 60 high growth Indian retail companies embracing SAP technology for retail solutions, SAP India has firmly established itself as a leading provider of innovative enterprise solutions to the growing Indian retail sector.

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Major retail players such as, Future group, Reliance Retail, Tata Trent, ITC Retail, Great Wholesale Retail Club, Vishal MegaMart, Welspun, Nilgiris Dairy Farm, Videocon, Spencers etc. have partnered with SAP in their move to invest in an integrated solution portfolio to catalyse consumer demand across multiple channels, increase cost efficiencies, adapt to market changes and maximize profit margins.

Ramesh Shanmuganathan, John Keells Holdings PLC, said: “We are beginning to realise the strategic benefits from our investments in SAP by leveraging its end-to-end capabilities which has helped us manage our IT footprint effectively through better business and IT alignment,  whilst driving innovation and pursuing flexible business processes in providing for  a stronger platform of growth for our businesses.”

Some of the retailers who went live with SAP in India this year include Dabur, Nilgiris Dairy Farm, IndiaBulls, Subhiksha, Varkeys and the customer in global environment John Keells Holdings PLC (Srilanka) and Meena Bazaar (Bangladesh).

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SAP for retail has further strengthened its presence with successful wins such as DLF Retail, Numerouno, Om Store Book Store in India and Gemcon Food and Agricultural Products Ltd. (Meena Bazar) and Otobi Ltd in Bangladesh. Worldwide, 6,200+ retail and wholesale customers run on SAP including 33 of the top 50 global retailers.

 

SAP reaffirms commitment to make every customer a best-run business

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As a part of SAP’s continuing effort to make every retail customer a best-run business, the recently held SAP Retail Customer Value Networking Event, provided a common platform for discussion on Indian retail industry related topics, the event saw SAP showcase its investments in retail solutions, and product roadmap for the retail industry.

The other topics of interest included leveraging technology for growth and maximizing profitability through rural retailing. The forum witnessed participation from Sankarson Banerjee - CEO, Future Bazaar, Amit Mukherjee - CIO, RPG Group, Rajashekar, Executive Advisor, Wadhawan Group,  Anil Garg, General Manager, Dabur, M VR Kumar – VP Asia Pac, MENA for SEAL INFOTECH and Ramesh Shanmuganathan, CIO  John Keells Holdings PLC amongst others.

Amit Mukherjee, CIO, RPG Group, said: “In an industry faced with daily pressures on margins, performance and the bottom line, SAP offers robust solution, which is able to handle large volumes of transactions and adapt to the changing industry landscape of the future.”

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Anil Garg, general manager, Dabur, said: “A flexible solution platform that allows for incremental enhancements based on business needs and a clear road map for the future is critical to the long-term success. Dabur sees SAP as the IT provider of choice and a trusted partner who truly understands our business, and one that will continue to support its customers in the long run.”

Deb Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Value Engineering, Industry & Solution Group, Indian subcontinent, said: “Obtaining the flexibility to grow and adapt to market changes is a common objective for all of our retail customers. Having fully globalised technology in place to exploit new market opportunities and seamlessly integrate into a global operations network is crucial for many of our retail clients. We continue to design a retail environment that puts customer needs in its epicentre and empower them to evolve as the best-run-business.”

Anticipating the changing needs of customers, SAP has created and is operating an SAP Retail Innovation Center in India. The centre houses fully globalised technology to exploit new market opportunities and seamlessly integrate them into operations network, best practices-based retail expansion and consumer intimacy programs a crucial for many SAP retail clients.

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SAP provides an integrated technology platform for retailers

Retailing continues to gain momentum in India with the main focus being on growing customer experience and increasing retails footprints. A Springboard Research study on IT in India’s retail sector confirms SAP’s strong position in the Indian market, with 27 percent of study respondents identifying SAP as the leading primary influencer in terms of solutions investments.

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Deb Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Value Engineering, Industry & Solution Group, Indian subcontinent, said: "Technology is a high-priority investment area for most large and medium-sized Indian retailers, as they look to scale up their business operations in a competitive market.. We have seen a strong momentum for investments in ERP and other back-office solutions and SAP has emerged as a leading player in this space.

SAP for retail provides an integrated technology platform for retailers and a one point solution for supporting and managing different business models such as owned stores, franchise stores, shop n shop concepts. Strong business decision and analytical capabilities have enabled retailers of all sizes the power to make the right decisions quickly and profitably.

The SAP for retail solution portfolio combines the SAP Business Suite family of business applications with a broad set of integrated retail applications to help companies profitably serve consumer demand across multiple channels.

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Some of the most common solutions used in the retail industry:

Master Data Management: Harmonised, synchronized and optimal workflow controlled master data across the different lines of business.

Merchandise and Category Management ensures that assortments meet the expectations of customers within specific micro markets, determines optimal product mix, prices and promotions – supporting step-by-step cooperation and coordination in development, implementation, and monitoring of business plans.

Forecasting and Replenishment; solution that enables retailers to dramatically improve on-shelf availability, reduce inventory, and optimise the supply chain.

Workforce Management: A centrally managed, web-enabled workforce management solution gives retailers improved flexibility and control over their business processes. It allows corporate management to take more ownership of schedule planning and execution, giving managers more time to assist customers and coach employees.

Store Management: Store management systems need to cater to the fast-changing needs of customers today. These systems must quickly gain fast and reliable, accurate, and insightful customer information in many ways.

POS Data Management - enables you to examine all your key issues – events and promotions, prices and margins, and reason codes for returns – as well as a host of other parameters. RFID Framework