Schöneck, 02 December 2010 – GK SOFTWARE AG is presenting a comprehensive software package for use in independent retail stores and centrally controlled markets as part of the EDEKA project entitled the “Store of the Future” in Hamburg. The package represents both the latest store technology with visionary concepts and solutions that have proved their worth in practice.

The EDEKA Group in Hamburg has developed a comprehensive concept for the “Store of the Future” as part of an extended internal showroom. It provides its members with an opportunity to discover more about new software solutions and technologies for their stores at an early stage. GK SOFTWARE AG is providing an all-round software package to manage the market and some of this is already in commercial use at EDEKA stores.
The central component of the software package is the store merchandise management solution provided by GK SOFTWARE AG. This enables companies to gain access to all their goods-related processes in stores on mobile devices, which are able to work offline too, in conjunction with the leading SAP system. Another key element is GK/Retail POS, which is already in use in approx. 1,000 EDEKA Minden-Hannover markets and more than 4,500 Netto stores. This till software is able to handle all the processes, which are required in the different formats used by EDEKA, and it can be seamlessly integrated in the forward-looking Lunar landscape. In the “STore of the Future,” GK/Retail POS is also exhibited with a link to a self-checkout and a tunnel scanner.
An innovative line-busting solution is also on display, which is aimed at speeding up checkout procedures. The contents of the shopping basket are recorded by mobile devices and a preliminary receipt is printed out. Customers can then pay their bill and leave the checkout zone through secure gates.
The valuephone software for mobile payments and mobile couponing represents revolutionary mobile technologies, which provide an all-round system for customer loyalty schemes in conjunction with GK/Retail POS.

Schöneck, 30 September 2009 - GK SOFTWARE AG and SAP AG have signed a contract covering a reseller agreement. Under the arrangement, SAP will directly distribute two GK/Retail software solutions for store device control and offline enabled mobile store processes.

Schöneck, October 19, 2009 – GK SOFTWARE AG today announced it is collaborating SAP AG to deliver integrated retail and ERP solutions for store integration and mobile processes to EDEKA, the largest food retailer in Germany. The objective is to provide EDEKA with innovative device control and offline-enabled mobile handheld processes integrated with its central ERP system.

The solutions will include two GK/Retail-solutions from GK SOFTWARE AG integrated with the SAP® software portfolio, providing a comprehensive end-to-end solution to EDEKA as a first step. Integrating the central ERP system and store processes will help EDEKA better manage its stores.

The integrated offerings planned for EDEKA include store device control software and an offline-enabled mobile handheld application. With the store device control software, the pe-ripheral control platform is integrated with SAP solutions and acts as a data hub between the central SAP system and the store. At the same time, the solution helps ensure all data flows between the different subsystems in a store are controlled (e.g., POS, scales, and reverse vending machines).

The offline mobile handheld application will allow access to merchandise functionalities di-rectly on mobile devices. Unlike online-only applications, the offline mobile handheld applica-tion will allow both online and offline processes. Therefore, applicable business processes such as inventory management and article validation can be performed with the highest data quality, even without a permanent online connection. Additional functionalities will also be available, which require direct access to central data, such as stock control or price checks.

"We are pleased to work together with GK SOFTWARE AG to deliver an integrated solution to EDEKA, which will help them to improve efficiencies and productivity," said Verlin Youd, senior vice president, Global Trading Sector, SAP. "The cooperation underlines SAP's end-to-end integration proposition of data and business processes from head office to store. It also further demonstrates the value of our ecosystem - that through cooperation with companies such as GK SOFTWARE, we are delivering innovative solutions to market while lowering total cost of ownership."

Rainer Gläß, CEO of GK SOFTWARE AG: "For GK Software, both the project with EDEKA and the cooperation with SAP represent outstanding milestones for our solutions in the area of store integration and mobile processes. We expect they will significantly impact our future business, especially in regards to our international activities."

New Technologies and Software Components for Efficient Customer-Centric Retailing

Schöneck, 30 January 2009 GK SOFTWARE AG is presenting the new major version of its software, GK/Retail 12, to a specialist public for the first time at the EuroCIS 2009. The fully integrated software for stores is now completely based on the new ABC technology (Advanced Business Components). This technology, which provides SOA, allows the simplest possible integration of customer functions, new software components or subsystems. The new GK/Retail 12 also provides new functions and solutions for consistently implementing customer-centric approaches and cost-saving operating concepts.

GK SOFTWARE AG is showing off the new version of its software, GK/Retail 12, for the first time at the EuroCIS 2009. GK SOFTWARE AG believes that the latest version of its successful software package represents a quantum leap in store automation. Extensive development work, years of research and the experience gained from many large-scale international projects have all been incorporated in GK/Retail 12.

Leap Forward in Technology: Scalable Central Architecture, ABC Technology and Core Plug-Ins

The new release represents a complete switch for GK/Retail to flexible component technology. Based on Advanced Business Component (ABC) technology, the individual components and modules are completely encapsulated from each other and communicate via defined interfaces. This means that it is not only possible to link in new GK/Retail components or customer functions, but also external systems like webshops, CRM systems or new hardware as core plug-ins without any problems. There are no restrictions on the scalability of the software either. As a result, it is possible to determine which parts of the software are to be used centrally and which parts locally. The continuous structure of the software modules in Advanced Business Components corresponds one hundred percent with the concept of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The business components can be activated by external solutions as web services. Frequently used functions like price enquiries, reports etc can be repeatedly used either within GK/Retail or even in communicating with external consumers. As a result, GK/Retail supports the classical SOA standards and the specific RTI (Retail Transaction Interface) developments for the retail sector introduced by the ARTS work team.

The Principle of Customer Centric Retailing

The central crucial goal in GK/Retail 12 is to provide better customer service in stores. This is primarily provided by means of rapid and customer-centric processes at each POS. Regardless of whether the transaction involves accepting a gift certificate, simple returns or accepting customer cards without any difficulties – all the customer centric processes are available in an efficient and transparent manner and are easy to use. GK/Retail 12 provides complete satisfaction in managing customer loyalty and sales promotion schemes and offers the widest range of integrated solutions related to customer service and customer loyalty, ranging from couponing to customer and gift cards, self-checkout operations and even integrating mobile retailing and payments. New solutions and components for complete store automation have also been integrated in the major version 12. As a result, the software suite now has an integrated digital signage feature in order to transmit digital content to as many output devices as are necessary and this is managed from enterprise headquarters. A digital signature feature with a signature pad has also been included and this allows fast operations at the POS without the need for any paper.

Security as a Result of Having the Latest Equipment

The new GK/Retail version follows the development path of Java and supports the latest Java version in order to benefit from further developments and improved security concepts in the platform. Alongside this, new databases have been included and the latest retail developments in the most important operating systems have been enabled. GK SOFTWARE AG also guarantees that GK/Retail fully meets the requirements of PCI-DSS.

GK SOFTWARE AG Presents an Integrated Solution for Digital Signage at the EuroCIS

Schöneck, 13 October 2009 - GK SOFTWARE AG will deliver important modules covering retail store management and connectivity for 6,000 EDEKA stores as a partner of SAP.

• Major order for GK SOFTWARE AG
• First joint project for the strategic partnership between SAP and GK SOFTWARE AG

GK SOFTWARE AG has won its first major order as a result of its strategic partnership with SAP. With solutions for store device control and offline enabled mobile store processes the Schöneck-based company will implement two important retail store applications for the large EDEKA project Lunar. SAP has recently begun marketing these two software solutions on the basis of a reselling partnership.

GK SOFTWARE AG is one of the first German providers of retail store solutions to be certified by IBM for the “IBM Retail Integration Framework” (RIF).

Schöneck, 3 July 2009. GK SOFTWARE AG has received certification from IBM for its GK/Retail software suite with regard to the IBM Retail Integration Framework (RIF). This framework is based on open standards like ARTS or Global Standards (GS1) and aims to ensure smooth communications and business processes in the retail sector. “Ready for IBM – Retail Integration Framework” is an initiative introduced by IBM to check selected solutions provided by business partners and based on open standards to test their use in retail applications. IBM uses high assessment standards for this purpose: Only platform-independent providers of solutions receive Retail Integration Framework certification, provided that they meet the highest requirements regarding future viability and technological competence for the retail sector.

The GK/Retail software suite has successfully met the requirements for this certification process. To achieve this, various integration scenarios were tested with specialists from IBM. GK/Retail had already been certified for the previous initiative from IBM, which was entitled “Store Integration Framework (SIF).”

Schöneck, 10 February 2009 – GK SOFTWARE AG has received an order from the food retail company Lidl

GK SOFTWARE AG has received an order from the food retail company Lidl to supply its new store software for the complete network of Lidl stores, which are spread over twenty European countries.

GK SOFTWARE AG will supply the software for the POS and background systems in stores across Europe and the software for store management. Lidl has been using a version of GK SOFTWARE AG’s DOS-based POS software since the end of the 1990s. This will now be completely replaced by the modern Java-based software, GK/Retail.

Rainer Gläß, CEO at GK SOFTWARE AG comments: 'We are very proud to have renewed our business links with Lidl in the long term, after providing it with services for many years. This not only demonstrates the competitiveness of our software, but also the successful partnership that we have maintained over the past few years.'

Schöneck / London, 17 June 2009 - At the Retail Week Technology Awards in London this week a jury of industry experts awarded the “Best International Solution” to GK SOFTWARE AG for its work with Douglas Perfumeries. Douglas Perfumeries, an international retailer with over 1,000 stores across Europe and the US, impressed the judges with their exemplary international implementation of GK/Retail.

Every year in June the British magazine, Retail Week, hosts the Technology Awards, a London-based event to celebrate the achievements of retailers and technology suppliers throughout the UK and Europe. This year, with more than 500 retailers and IT experts in attendance, GK SOFTWARE AG was recognized for their successful international implementation of GK/Retail.

GK SOFTWARE AG took on the challenge of replacing several different point-of-sale systems within Douglas Perfumeries with one single platform across all countries.The GK/Retail platform supports regional requirements for each of these diverse territories and delivers one-of-a-kind centralized tools to provide unparalleled enterprise functionality.An Enterprise Cockpit provides a central view of the hardware and software throughout the store landscape and Storemanager provides capabilities to manage and support the stores centrally.

GK/Retail has already been deployed in more than 10 of the 22 countries Douglas Perfumeries serves.Jeroen Timmer, Central Divisional IT Manager for Douglas Perfumeries said, "GK/Retail has met our high expectations and our experience with the GK team has been fantastic.With GK/Retail, we centrally manage and monitor our entire chain.This has drastically reduced support costs and downtime."

Schöneck, November 4, 2009 - The GK SOFTWARE AG and X5 Retail Group agreed upon cooperation to redesign the store solution of Russia’s leading retailer.

Through the terms of this agreement, the GK SOFTWARE AG will implement the GK/Retail Store Solution in a pilot store in Moscow already by the end of the forth quarter of 2009. Accomplishing this project within only eight weeks, including all country-specific variables and implementation of the fiscal system highlights once again the extraordinary performance of the GK/Retail standard solution, even in an international context.

The X5 Retail Group is the biggest Russian retailer operating more than 1,000 own stores and over 600 franchise outlets in five different formats in Russia. In the opinion of the GK SOFTWARE AG Management Board, this agreement with X5 once again emphasizes, in a sustainable manner, the high performance of the GK/Retail solution. Rainer Gläß, CEO of GK SOFTWARE AG: "Successfully entering the Russian market is an important milestone in the development of our internationalization strategy."