Bristol, 14th December 2011, UNIT4, the world’s leading provider of business software for Businesses Living IN Change (BLINC™), today published a whitepaper developed by Martec International which examines the business trends and challenges retailers face today.
The whitepaper considers the vast and rapid business changes affecting retailers including globalisation, the internet, the changing role of the store, and IT priorities, and considers what this means for chief financial officers and other senior executives in retail around the world as they plan for the future. It also considers technology-backed solutions to help retailers improve decision-making.
“As multi-channel retailing becomes ever-more complex, retailers are looking for specialised financial solutions that can provide a single clear picture of their business and a foundation for real-time analytics,” said David Turner, Group Marketing Director at UNIT4. “They need systems that can be the financial backbone of their organisation, integrating with other custom and off-the-shelf solutions installed throughout the organisation and that consolidate information from physical and virtual retail platforms so they can react rapidly to change. In short, they need financial systems that support the type of business they want to be in the next five to ten years.”
“Retailers are looking overseas for growth, but a variety of trends and opportunities must be considered,” said Frances Riseley, Deputy Managing Director, Martec International. “They must address change head-on and maximise their investment in technology to improve planning and decision making. Despite the recent reduction in retail IT budgets, we expect them to stabilise from now on, providing an opportunity for smart retailers to build long term profitability.”
The paper is available to download here
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About Martec International
Martec International assists retailers improve performance in the business processes of buying, merchandise management, marketing, supply chain, warehousing, distribution, and store operations. Our clients include medium and large retailers around the world and many of their key suppliers.
We deliver clear, well thought out strategies, best of breed business processes, successfully implemented systems and the skills transfer necessary to make the client’s personnel fully effective.
About UNIT4
UNIT4 is a global business software and services company aimed at helping dynamic public sector, and commercial services organisations to embrace change simply, quickly and cost effectively in a market sector it calls 'Businesses Living IN Change' (BLINC)™. The Group incorporates a number of the world’s leading change embracing software brands including Agresso Business World, our flagship ERP suite for mid-sized services intensive organisations and Coda, our best-of-class financial management software.
With operations in 17 European countries, as well as 7 countries across North America, Asia Pacific and Africa and sales activities in several other countries, its revenue was €421.7 million in 2010.
In the UK we focus strongly on the public sector, where we are the leading provider of ERP systems to local government and post 16 education organisations, as well as having a considerable presence in the emergency services and health sectors. We also focus strongly on professional services organisations and a range of commercial sectors including Financial Services, Retail and Media and Publishing. Overall we aim to be the UK’s foremost business software company, providing solutions that transform the delivery of public services and comprehensively support commercial organisations in their ability to adapt and prosper in rapidly changing environments.
UNIT4 is headquartered in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands and has over 4,000 employees. It is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and is included in the Amsterdam Midcap Index (AMX).
For more information on UNIT4 or any of its operating companies, please visit the website at www.unit4software.co.uk, or follow us on Twitter @UNIT4_UK
