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.

• Sales rose by more than 20 percent in the first nine months of the year
• Revenue growth expected at 30 percent over last year
• Integration of Solquest GmbH assets almost complete

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 new major release 12 of GK/Retail has received two important certifications from SAP AG.

Gebr. Heinemann KG equips Travel Value & Duty Free and Concept & Licence Shops with GK/Retail

Schoeneck, 24 March 2009 – Gebr. Heinemann KG, one of the leading operators of airport shops, has started to roll out GK/Retail at its retail channel. The first stage involves installing the market-leading retail solution from GK SOFTWARE AG in approx. 130 of the company’s shops at airports in Germany and Denmark. GK/Retail has been adapted to the special requirements of this project, which involves selling items at airports and the duty-free business. GK SOFTWARE AG is acting as the prime contractor in this project and is responsible for the complete roll-out, service and support.

The traditional Hanseatic trading company Gebr. Heinemann commissioned GK SOFTWARE AG to equip the Travel Value & Duty Free and Concept & Licence shops with GK/Retail in the spring of 2008. The first steps were taken to gradually switch the stores at German airports to GK/Retail in the fall of 2008. The roll-out in Germany should be complete by the end of this year, if all goes according to plan. Alongside this, preparations are being made to switch the stores in Denmark and this process is due to start in the next few months. There are also plans to equip the Gebr. Heinemann shops in other countries with the software at a later date.

As the retail sector at airports requires special features, GK/Retail has been expanded to include specific airport functions. The flexible architecture of the standard software meant that the project could be realized in a very short time – the blueprint and development phase leading up to the first active pilot run only took about six months. During this period, GK SOFTWARE implemented the special requirements for Gebr. Heinemann and new hardware and the legal requirement to detect air ticket data were integrated in the store software. At the same time, connections were created with the different ERP systems used (SAP and Navision) – depending on the type of store – via the standard XML interface of the StoreWeaver middleware. Gebr. Heinemann KG is planning to make use of further opportunities to establish customer loyalty and approach customers with specific aims at POS units in future – all based on the new store software.

This is the first project where GK SOFTWARE AG is operating as the prime contractor and, among other things, is providing the full 24/7 service for the stores on behalf of Gebr. Heinemann. Hans Lechner, IT Manager at Gebr. Heinemann, says: “Our decision to purchase the GK SOFTWARE AG solution was not just taken because the company was able to provide us with very modern and flexible store software, but also because we are able to obtain all the services related to the software from one source.”

Rainer Gläß, CEO at GK SOFTWARE AG, is also confident that the companies can work together successfully in future: “We are delighted to have acquired another internationally successful retail company in the shape of Gebr. Heinemann to use our software and services. This also underlines the success of our strategy of offering lasting services in addition to our market-leading software. We are convinced that nobody can offer better service for its software than the software producer itself.”

• About Gebr. Heinemann, Limited Partnership:
  Gebr. Heinemann was founded in 1879 as a provider for shipping suppliers in the Speicherstadt district of the city. The company is now a modern Hanseatic trading firm, which offers professional solutions to the international travel market. The family-owned enterprise successfully operates 173 Travel Value & Duty Free and 55 Concept & Licence Shops at 47 international airports. Sales at Gebr. Heinemann’s global business operations totaled € 1.7 billion in 2007

Schöneck, 5 March 2009 – Netto Marken-Discount AG & Co. KG will install GK/Retail as its standard software during the next few months at all the PLUS stores that it takes over. Netto will deploy the same GK/Retail modules currently used in all of their other retail outlets.

Once the PLUS retail outlets, which were formerly part of the Tengelmann Group, are taken over by the store network of Netto Marken-Discount AG & Co. KG , part of the EDEKA Group, the store IT equipment will be standardized. Over 2,500 PLUS stores will be equipped with the same GK/Retail configuration that is already successfully deployed at the Netto retail outlets.

Coop Switzerland has installed GK/Retail at its first pilot store this week. This means that it has only taken seven months to begin business operations with this complex project involving central architecture. 1,400 Coop stores operating in various retail sectors will be equipped with GK/Retail as the project continues.

Die Parfümerie Douglas GmbH ist Gewinner des Retail Technology Awards Europe in der Kategorie "Best In-Store Solution".

"Die Vereinheitlichung der Systeme, gerade bei international agierenden Unternehmen, ist zwingend erforderlich um die Geschäftsprozesse effizient zu gestalten“, begründet Juror Ulrich Spaan die Entscheidung.

zur Pressemitteilung des EHI: http://www.ehi.org

EDEKA Minden-Hannover Successfully Utilizes the GK/Retail Store Solution

Schöneck / February 18, 2008 – EDEKA Minden-Hannover has decided for the GK Software AG as technology partner for applications in the retail trade. Within five months only, the project was realized and was turned to live in the first branch stores. In addition to the POS solution, the centralization of the branch store servers and the StoreWeaver data hub form the core of the project.

EDEKA Minden-Hannover that is the biggest regional EDEKA trading company with about 1,500 markets has decided for the use of GK/Retail to unify its branch store IT. Beginning From January, the about 4,500 POS systems in the various sales lines such as E center, E neukauf, E aktiv, Marktkauf or Reichelt are fitted with GK/Retail in uniform manner. After the project start at the end of May 2007, the GK Software AG needed about five months only until the first markets in two different sales lines could their productive operation using the new solution in November.

Live with Central Branch Store Server

EDEKA Minden-Hannover belongs to the first customers that utilize the new Enterprise Store Server developed by the GK Software AG. Thus, the branch store servers are completely relocated into the head office and the branch stores online access these systems. To ensure the unobstructed operation even in case of mains failures, the GK Software AG's new Business Continuity Technology is used in the project. It guarantees that all subsystems in the branch store can be operated without any restrictions from within the head office even in case of data flow interruption.

Integration of Branch Store Subsystems through StoreWeaver

A particular challenge of the branch store project at EDEKA Minden-Hannover consists in the integration of the central SAP system and the branch store systems differently grown due their history. For example, via StoreWeaver, the new POS solution and the central BackOffice system have to be connected to various merchandise management solutions that are used in the different sales lines. At EDEKA Minden-Hannover, the StoreWeaver integration platform becomes the central hub via which all data streams within the branch store an between branch store and head office flow. For example, via the StoreWeaver, Vensafe or empties return automats as well as the central Data Warehouse and the cash register systems are supplied with data.

Gerhard Riechmann as managing director of the EDEKA Minden-Hannover IT-/logistic service GmbH understands the project as a big step toward a homogenous and up-to-date IT landscape in the EDEKA branch stores. EDEKA Minden-Hannover expects that considerable savings and a reduction of the complexity on site will be achieved by means of the central Bac