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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.
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 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.
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, 30 January 2009 GK SOFTWARE AG is presenting its new digital signage software with the GK/Retail Digital Content Management system for the first time at the EuroCIS 2009. The new software, which can be fully integrated in the GK/Retail suite, allows digital information to be distributed right through a company automatically and it makes use of the leading technology provided by GK/Retail.
GK SOFTWARE AG is using the opportunity at the EuroCIS to present its central solution for distributing any amount of digital content to various output devices in a whole company using the GK/Retail Digital Content Management system. The digital signage solution knows no limits as regards content or playback media. This means that it is possible to distribute photos, slide shows or videos automatically to the appropriate output devices right through a company. Each output device, which is able to communicate using wired or wireless networks, can be controlled by the GK/Retail Digital Content Management system. Any changes to the material can be made automatically and at set times. The system can manage several channels simultaneously. So it is possible, for example, to issue content in different languages or control various areas on a screen at the same time. As a result, photos or films can be presented in one section of a screen and different logos in a different area, for example.
The new GK/Retail Digital Content Management system can, for example, be used for digital posters, kiosk systems, electronic shelf labels, advertising displays at self-checkouts or shelf monitors. Even customer screens at POS systems managed by GK/Retail can be supplied with advertising materials on several channels using the new software. This material can be played back next to the visualized receipt and so address customers directly.
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.
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."
Schöneck, 27 November 2009 – GK SOFTWARE AG is expecting growth in sales of 30 percent for the 2009 business year and profitability that matches the previous year; its sales in the first nine months of the year (EUR 13.16 million) have already exceeded the previous year’s figure by 21.2 percent.
GK SOFTWARE AG has managed to continue its success story during the first nine months of the 2009 business year without any kind of disruption. The company was able to achieve a growth rate of 21.2 percent with sales totaling EUR 13.16 million (EUR 10.85 million during the same reporting period in the previous year) and increased its total operating revenue by 34.5 percent (EUR 14.59 million). On the basis of contracts concluded at the end of the reporting period, particularly with EDEKA, the company is expecting a further acceleration in growth during the final three months of the business year.
So the management board assumes that the company can achieve 30 percent growth in sales for the whole year and maintain the profitability level of the previous year. As the restructuring and integration of the assets of Solquest GmbH, which was taken over at the beginning of May 2009, is progressing very well, the company expects this acquisition to have a largely neutral effect on results by the end of the business year.
The 2009 Retail Week Technology Awards will be presented in London on 16 June. Parfümerie Douglas in partnership with GK SOFTWARE AG is one of the finalists in the “International Solution” section.
The presentation of the prizes to the winners in the various categories will take place at a gala ceremony. A short list has been drawn up from the many projects that were entered and this list includes the best projects in each category.
GK SOFTWARE AG took part in the entry process together with Parfümerie Douglas and has been nominated in the “Best International Solution” category. This recognizes the successful implementation of major international retail IT projects. The award ceremony takes place at the long-established Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane on 16 June.
The international store project at Douglas already won the Retail Technology Award from the EHI Retail Institute in the “Best In-Store Solution” category in 2008.
Schöneck, 01. Dezember 2009 – Der ausgewiesene SAP-Experte Martin Binder verstärkt ab sofort das Team der GK SOFTWARE AG. Er wird als Solutions Manager GK/Retail das Produktmanagement übernehmen und vor allem das Thema filialwarenwirtschaftliche Prozesse in Verbindung mit einem führenden SAP-System vorantreiben.
Mit Martin Binder hat die GK SOFTWARE AG einen hochkarätigen Spezialisten im Bereich Filialprozesse hinzugewonnen. Der Experte für die Prozessabläufe im Einzelhandel wird vor allem für den Ausbau der End-to-End-Filialprozesse im Rahmen der GK/Retail-Suite verantwortlich sein. Martin Binder blickt auf langjährige Erfahrungen in der erfolgreichen Umsetzung großer Handelsprojekte zurück und war u.a. für Plaut-Consulting, IMG - The Information Management Group sowie zuletzt IBM in verantwortlichen Positionen tätig. Bei der GK SOFTWARE AG verantwortet er die Weiterentwicklung der Standardlösung GK/Retail und wird hier vor allem sein Know-How in den Bereichen Filialwarenwirtschaft und SAP-Integration einbringen.
The Retail Innovators