Schöneck, 22. December 2011 – An important international fashion retailer has engaged the services of GK SOFTWARE AG to equip its stores in more than two dozen countries. The project will involve introducing new store software and central control solutions for more than 700 stores of the company. One of the major focuses of the project is the close integration of the store solutions within the central software provided by SAP.

• International project in more than two dozen countries

The Management Board at GK SOFTWARE AG is not expecting the project to trigger any significant effects on sales in fiscal 2011 and is therefore continuing to stand by its current forecast for the ongoing business year.

Schöneck, 23 February 2011 – After the successful launch of its mobile marketing campaign, Netto Marken-Discount is now extending the project by adding mobile couponing. The pilot phase has been operating since the beginning of February. After this, mobile couponing will be available for all Netto customers in the near future. The solution provided by valuephone GmbH is seamlessly integrated in the POS system developed by GK SOFTWARE AG, which is used in every Netto store. The infrastructure provided by valuephone GmbH will completely handle the mobile marketing program.

Netto Marken-Discount has already been offering its customers the opportunity of obtaining information about the special offers each week by cell phone or smartphone for six months. All the current special offers, which are distributed on leaflets too, including the images and description, are made available. By expanding the project, which is based on the valuephone mobile technology, it is now possible to load coupons on to cell phones too and cash them in at the tills using a simple procedure. Netto Marken-Discount has not had to invest in any additional hardware to introduce the project, because the whole process is handled through the valuephone POS plugin, which is an integral part of the GK/Retail till software.

Full Service with valuephone

valuephone GmbH provides all the technical safeguards for the mobile marketing program and makes available the complete infrastructure and software solutions as a cloud-based “software as a service” system. As a result, Netto Marken-Discount does not need to make any investments in hardware or background systems. The rapid completion of the project was made possible because the valuephone POS plugin is completely integrated in the standard GK/Retail software. The apps being used by Netto Marken-Discount now are available as white label products, which can be adapted to the branding of any retailer. valuephone already has a broad user base with more than two and a half million downloads. All the phones capable of using Java or Windows Mobile, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are supported and Android and BlackBerry will soon be supported too. The trading applications provided by valuephone with their integrated e-mail and social network functions (e.g. Twitter) support modern social marketing in the long term.

valuephone not only provides the apps used by Netto Marken-Discount, but also other mobile solutions for introducing customer and bonus card systems and mobile payments, with which modern customer loyalty schemes can be directly introduced at POS units. The complete range of valuephone GmbH products will be introduced at the EuroShop in Düsseldorf from 26 February until 2 March in Hall 6, booth A44 in direct conjunction with the POS solution provided by GK SOFTWARE AG.

Published with kind permission of valuephone GmbH

Press release valuephone GmbH

Schöneck, November 2, 2011 – Parfümerie Douglas is testing the mobile POS solution from GK SOFTWARE AG on iPod Touch 4g in its stores. This means that sales persons can directly assist customers at the shelves and can issue the receipt during the sales process.

Parfümerie Douglas is already testing the use of the new GK SOFTWARE AG solution GK/Retail Mobile POS on iPod Touch 4g in a productive proof of concept phase. Initially, sales persons will have access to the POS functions in the elegant and slick look & feel of iOS applications. They are not only able to encash items, but also search for them, for instance, change prices or charge gift certificate cards. Customer card functions with direct links to the central CRM system are also available on the mobile device. As a result of the new design of GK/Retail POS, the sales receipt can be issued during the sales interactions and the customer can check out at special pay points within the store. As the iPod Point of Sale system has the identical business logics as the GK/Retail standard software, other requirements can also be mapped on it – e.g. assigning the sale to a particular member of staff, issuing store reports or linking up outside software solutions.

Extended with an appropriate Hardware Kit GK/Retail Mobile is able to handle the complete payment process with debit and credit cards directly on iPods or iPhones.

A comprehensive operating and security concept takes into account the increased security requirements for mobile Point of Sales and they range from regular changes to passwords to a remote blockage of the devices in use.

iPod, iPhone and iOS are registered trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Schöneck, 25 February 2011 – GK SOFTWARE AG is presenting its GK/Retail Open Scale solution at the EuroSHOP in Düsseldorf for the very first time. The latest building block in the GK/Retail Business Suite has been developed for use on open PC scales and allows them to be seamlessly integrated in store IT systems. This opens up completely new opportunities for the retail sector in terms of flexibility and data quality. Operating costs can be cut at the same time, as the level of complexity in any store is reduced.

The new scale software from GK SOFTWARE AG marks a paradigm shift for all retail corporations that use scales at various places. As the new open software can be employed on any modern PC scales, regardless of the platform in use, the trade has an opportunity for the first time of using scales from different manufacturers alongside each other without having to supply several different systems with data or maintain them. At the same time, the tried and tested end-to-end communications channels within the GK/Retail Business Suite are available to them and this enables a real-time link to the central ERP system (e.g. SAP). This means that it is possible to upload and download master and transaction data with much greater ease and prices, sales promotions or parameters can be centrally managed for scales and tills. Alongside this, it is possible to introduce all-round digital signage concepts – e.g. for using customer monitors at scales and tills or other multimedia devices. With GK/Retail Open Scale, any scales are no longer an isolated feature, but become a fully integrated component in the store infrastructure.

Tried and Tested Technologies and Store Expertise

The new Open Scale software is fully based on the technology platform within the GK/Retail Business Suite and uses the GK SOFTWARE AG expertise gained from successful store projects in more than 30 countries. The software can also be used as a pure scales application on typical operator scales – like self-service or sales scales. The software can master important functions like a change of scales during sales and will support all the processes needed on scales – e.g. pre-packing or stocktaking – as required. The partner involved in developing the system has been Bizerba, but the system provides support, in principle, for any open PC scales. A complete scenario ranging from mobile advertising to cashing in coupons and even paying at a POS will be jointly presented at the Bizerba booth (hall 7/E56) by Bizerba and valuephone. A QR code, which can be registered by a cell phone, is shown on the scale’s customer display when the goods are weighed – depending on the item. This either provides the customer with a suitable recipe or a coupon, which can be redeemed immediately at a POS. As a result, any customer can obtain cooking instructions and a mobile coupon with a discount on a suitable sauce when weighing the meat for their main Sunday meal.

Schöneck/Düsseldorf, 28th February 2011 – IBM presents the new IBM Self Checkout System 6 integrated with the GK/Retail standard software solution from the business partner GK SOFTWARE AG at EuroShop in Düsseldorf 2011. Both partners combined their key competence in the retail industry. IBM developed the hardware and software environment for the new Self Checkout System 6, and GK SOFTWARE AG provided the standard POS software GK/Retail. The IBM Self Checkout System 6 is completely integrated into the IT infrastructure at the store and eliminates the needs for isolated checkout solutions. This solution is one of the first partnership-based solutions worldwide that is fully integrated on the new IBM Self Checkout System 6.

For the first time in Europe, IBM presents the IBM Self Checkout System 6 running IBM Checkout Environment for Consumer-Service Software (CHEC) at EuroShop. The new solution has many advantages to offer like flexibility, modularity and integrated cash payment. The implementation of GK/Retail on the IBM Self Checkout System 6 integrates the comprehensive functionality of the leading POS solution on all checkout systems in the store.

IBM and GK Software AG have worked together in the retail industry for many years. Both partners developed a standardized and completely integrated self checkout solution that satisfies the requirements of the market. The hardware foundation for the solution is the new Self Checkout System 6 from IBM, which was presented for the first time at the NRF Conference in New York in January 2011. The open architecture of the IBM CHEC Software supports the integration of POS solutions from various vendors. GK SOFTWARE AG provided the POS software for this joint project: GK/Retail.

Based on the open architecture of the new Self Checkout System 6 every POS function of the GK/Retail POS software can be implemented. This makes functions of the internationally used POS solution such as promotions and loyalty now available at the self checkout. In addition, the standard functionality of GK/Retail to manage and monitor POS devices in the retail environment is now usable on the IBM Self Checkout System 6 and allows those devices to be centrally managed and monitored as well.
The partnership between IBM and GK SOFTWARE AG prevents the need for isolated and expensive solutions, significantly reduces the complexity of the systems, and helps create homogenized IT environments.

About IBM:

Further informations about IBM: www.ibm.com/de/pressroom

Schöneck, Magdeburg 3 September 2011 – GK SOFTWARE AG has been awarded the renowned “Prestigious Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises.” The prize is one of the most important business awards in Germany and was awarded in a competition, which this year attracted nominations from more than 3,500 corporations from all over the country.

GK SOFTWARE AG was awarded the “Prestigious Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises” for its long-term economic success at a ceremony held at the Hotel Maritim in Magdeburg; the competition involved corporations from all over Germany. In their statement, the jury members paid tribute to the corporation’s extraordinary development from a “two-man company in 1990 to an internationally recognized service provider for trading corporations with more than one hundred thousand installations in over 30 countries,” which therefore makes it one “of the most important players in the international market for store solutions – for instance, at Tchibo, Galeria Kaufhof, Douglas, Netto and Lidl.”
At the ceremony where the prize was presented to the founder and CEO of GK SOFTWARE AG, Rainer Gläß, special mention was also made of the “close level of cooperation with regional training centers, the special trainee program at a ceremony held at the Hotel Maritim in Magdeburg s and the other recruiting measures directed at the region” – and GK SOFTWARE AG’s commitment to promoting local business in the economically underdeveloped Vogtland region.

The “Prestigious Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises” Competition

The Oskar Patzelt Foundation has been organizing the “Prestigious Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises” competition for 17 years in order to highlight outstanding corporate achievements and award a prize for these. Local authorities, institutes and leading figures nominated 3,522 medium-sized enterprises from across Germany for this year’s “Prestigious Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises” competition.

Schöneck, 13 December 2010 - A leading German retailer in the watch and jewelry sector has decided to equip its stores, which number far more than 100, with the GK/Retail store software. As a result, GK SOFTWARE AG has managed to tap into a new retail business area, the luxury sector.

• Order from the leading German retailer
• Equipment for more than 100 stores in the luxury segment

Schöneck, 30 November 2010 – GK SOFTWARE AG has received an order from Unicarepharmacy Ltd, its first business dealings in Ireland. The company will supply all 72 pharmacies of the Irish market leader with its GK/Retail software. The scope of the order covers the supply of a comprehensive EPOS solution for the Unicarepharmacy and DocMorris brands.

• First Irish customer is the Celesio subsidiary Unicarepharmacy Ltd.

GK SOFTWARE will therefore be adjusting its standard software to the special requirements needed by the pharmacy sector. The order from Unicarepharmacy means that GK SOFTWARE AG has gained six international customers within a period of two years.

• About Unicare Pharmacy Limited
  Unicare pharmacy limited operates 72 pharmacies in Ireland trading under the Unicarepharmacy and DocMorris brands. Unicarepharmacy, with a Support Office located in Dublin, is the largest pharmacy retail chain in Ireland and employs approximately 850 members of staff. The company has won a number of prestigious awards in recent years including a Ruban d’Honneur this year at the European Business Awards earlier this year as well as winning Best Workplaces in Ireland 2010 Retail Sector.
  Unicare Pharmacy Limited is part of the Celesio group. Celesio is one of the leading international service providers within the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets. The company is active in 27 countries worldwide and employs approximately 47,000 people in its three divisions Patient and Consumer Solutions, Pharmacy Solutions and Manufacturer Solutions. Approximately 2,300 of Celesio’s own retail pharmacies, as part of Patient and Consumer Solutions, serve over 600,000 customers every day. In its wholesale activities, which are part of Pharmacy Solutions, more than 130 wholesale branches deliver to over 65,000 pharmacies – day in, day out. In the Manufacturer Solutions division, Celesio offers pharmaceutical manufacturers logistics and distribution solutions and supports them in sales and marketing.

Schöneck, 21 January 2010 – GK SOFTWARE AG announces an order from the Austrian MPREIS group of companies to provide the store and enterprise solutions for all its approx. 180 stores in Austria and Italy.

The central focus of the GK SOFTWARE AG stand at the forthcoming EuroCIS in Düsseldorf (Hall 14, stand E 64) will be the presentation of a comprehensive approach to Enterprise Store Processing (ESP). GK SOFTWARE AG will be showing how all the IT-supported business processes in a store can be realized by using an extensive, fully modularized building block system based on the GK/Retail suite.

The latest technology, innovative software architectures and a variety of new or perfected solutions for stores are the major focus at GK SOFTWARE AG's stand at the trade fair this year. Europe's leading store suite, GK/Retail, has been comprehensively updated and improved - from the point of sale to end-to-end store merchandise management processes, automatic label printing and even digital signage. The "GK Solutions for SAP" are a major focus of the package. They enable the end-to-end integration of store processes with a central SAP system online and offline with a level of quality that was not possible in the past. Central architectures and SOA concepts are the key to reducing costs and optimizing processes for the retail trade. GK SOFTWARE AG has brought together this innovative architecture concept under the heading ESP (Enterprise Store Processing). The ESP developed by GK SOFTWARE AG in conjunction with international consultancy firms and leading retail traders is an SOA-based, central architecture concept, which networks existing IT structures at store-based corporations by using a unified integration and control platform; this improves the speed and quality of data flows within any corporation (end-to-end integration with the ESP) and reduces the TCO in the long term. One major focus is on the efficient networking of local and central components, both online and offline, in order to significantly accelerate real time retail business processes and guarantee improved customer services.

New Solution for the End-to-end Integration of Stores and Enterprise Headquarters

GK SOFTWARE AG is making available comprehensive software to enable the end-to-end integra-tion of a store in the shape of the GK/Retail modules for directly linking all the subsystems in a store to the central SAP or other ESP system. As a result, the numerous island solutions within stores are linked to enterprise headquarters through a single interface, which is equipped with business intelligence and ensures that data, parameters and software updates are available at the right place and at the right time. This significantly increases the process speed and the data quality and creates better conditions for central processes (e.g. forecasting and replenishment).

Fully Integrated Mobile Merchandise Management Processes for Stores

Another highlight of the fair is the merchandise management process mapping facility for stores in the shape of the GK/Retail Merchandise Management system. This software forms the link be-tween the central ERP system and the processes at a store. All the processes are available on mobile terminals, which can also operate offline. GK SOFTWARE AG provides the GK/Retail for SAP software package for retailers that use a central SAP system; this has been specially adapted for this environment.
Innovative Extensions of the Leading POS Software
The latest release of GK/Retail POS includes many new functions, which accelerate business processes and help to improve customer services. Each store, for example, can see the current stocks available at other stores throughout the corporation via the stock information server and can arrange a stock transfer in order to enable customers to obtain a particular item. The issue of spe-cial orders for customers, including the administration of the payment, and returns to any store in the chain has been comprehensively expanded in GK/Retail. The latest version of the task man-agement system enables each till to be used to receive and send messages directly from the POS environment. This means that till personnel can, for example, press a button to indicate that a re-placement is required or that more tills need to be opened. Another new feature in the current ver-sion of GK/Retail POS is the till software that now includes a recording facility for the time that a member of staff has worked with the result that no extra terminals are required for this.

Completely Mobile Till

GK SOFTWARE AG will provide a demonstration of GK/Retail POS on a tablet PC as a completely mobile till for the very first time at the EuroCIS. The same version is used as with stationary sys-tems. As a result, customers obtain a mobile workstation, which can also be used in offline mode and which has a scanner and printer as well; and there are no restrictions on its use when com-pared to the regular tills.

Integrated Solution for Automatic Label Printing and Digital Signage

GK SOFTWARE AG is presenting two solutions within GK/Retail for different functions within the field of in-store publishing in the shape of Label & Posterprint and GK/Retail Digital Content Man-agement. Both are linked directly with the ERP system in line with the ESP concept and automati-cally process changes to the master data. As a result, a price change at enterprise headquarters immediately triggers the printing of labels and posters in line with a set a rules. At the same time, the prices, which are displayed on electronic in-store media, for example, can be automatically up-dated. Both solutions can be integrated seamlessly or used in isolation.

Digital Signature

GK SOFTWARE AG will be demonstrating its digital signature solution at the fair too - it has been introduced into productive operations for the first customer recently. This means that customers can provide a secure signature when making a non-cash payment and internal clearance - for ex-ample, by the till manager - can be registered and filed for future reference in a secure manner.

GK Green Store Initiative - Saving Electricity and Reducing Costs

GK SOFTWARE AG will also be presenting innovative solutions to operate store IT systems and save energy and resources at the same time as part of its Green Store Initiative.