DemandTec Unveils Next Generation of Consumer Demand–Driven Merchandising at Retail Systems 2005

DemandTec 5 provides breakthrough combination of science–based optimization, consumer and market insights, and operational price, promotion, and markdown management

CHICAGO – Retail Systems 2005 Conference and Expo, Booth 323 – May 24, 2005 – DemandTec, the leading provider of Consumer Demand Management (CDM) software for retailers and consumer products companies, today announced the release of DemandTec 5 for Retail, the latest generation of its demand–driven merchandising software suite and Consumer Demand Management platform, at the Retail Systems 2005 Conference and Expo, at McCormick Place, Lakeside Center, Chicago, IL, May 24–26, 2005. DemandTec 5 will be showcased in the DemandTec booth, # 323.

The first retail software vendor to launch an integrated lifecycle pricing suite that includes Price, Promotion, and Markdown optimization, DemandTec is again leading the industry with the next generation of demand–driven merchandising applications.

DemandTec 5 blends DemandTec's industry–leading optimization capabilities with new operational and usability enhancements that provide a single, integrated environment with which to manage all pricing, promotion, and markdown plans from end–to–end.

DemandTec 5 helps retailers execute strategic, consumer–centric merchandising plans in order to drive profitability, growth, differentiation, and customer loyalty. DemandTec 5 also streamlines the individual price, promotion, and markdown processes to free up more time for strategic lifecycle pricing and minimizes the need for multiple systems to manage demand–driven merchandising programs.

DemandTec 5 – Demand–Driven Merchandising Applications for Complete Lifecycle Pricing

• DemandTec's Complete Lifecycle Pricing applications enable retailers to manage and optimize all pricing and promotion decisions for every item in every store, during every phase of the merchandise lifecycle – new item introductions, regular retails, promotions, and markdowns.
• DemandTec Price™ is the only retail pricing solution to combine sophisticated CDM–based optimization with operational price management, price maintenance, and price execution.
• DemandTec Promotion™ is the only retail promotion solution to combine sophisticated CDM–based optimization with operational functions and workflow for long–range and short–term promotion planning, vendor collaboration, promotion execution, and Sarbanes–Oxley compliance.
• DemandTec Markdown™ is the only retail markdown management solution to combine the latest in Consumer Demand Management–based markdown optimization science with the user–friendly workflow and operational features required by retail merchants of hard goods and soft goods alike.

In the AMR Research Report entitled "Retail Lifecycle Price Management: Blending Optimization and Execution Modernizes Retail Pricing," authored by Scott Langdoc and Eric Newmark, AMR suggests: "The deployment of a Retail Lifecycle Price Management model will drive significant incremental financial benefits and widen industry leadership for retailers as they align competitive, demand–driven pricing with effective promotions and consistent execution."

"A growing number of innovative retailers have been deriving significant value from optimization applications that work alongside traditional merchandising systems, but the majority of retailers have been waiting for a solution that is more readily adopted by their merchant community," said Marc Dietz, senior director of product marketing at DemandTec. "With DemandTec 5, we are introducing to the industry the next–generation in pricing, promotion, and markdown management and a new era of merchandising software: strategic demand–driven applications based on the science of consumer demand that also support retail business processes and daily operational requirements."

"Pricing, assortment, and other merchandising systems in retail need to include more consumer demand data instead of being based solely on historical merchandise data," said Hung LeHong, Retail Research Director for Gartner. "New technologies that combine consumer demand information with traditional merchandising applications will help retailers become more customer–centric."

DemandTec 5 – DemandTec CDM Platform for Consumer Demand–Driven Retailing
The DemandTec 5 applications for demand–driven merchandising are built on the DemandTec CDM Platform, the only integrated demand, consumer, and market intelligence platform for the retail industry.

• The DemandTec CDM Platform features the industry's most advanced store–SKU level demand modeling and forecasting science for Consumer Demand Management, creating a quantified, actionable understanding of consumer demand to power pricing, promotion, markdown, assortment, space, and other demand–driven merchandising plans for fast moving consumer goods and short lifecycle merchandise across all retail segments.
• DemandTec 5 now offers retailers deep insights into customer segmentation, based on both anonymous transaction log data and identified customer loyalty data. DemandTec 5 enables retailers to answer questions such as: Who are my most profitable customers? Where else do they shop and why? How can I tailor my merchandising and marketing programs to drive loyalty and profitability and increase my lifetime share of their wallet? These consumer insights, coupled with the DemandTec demand–driven merchandising applications, enable retailers to create consumer–centric pricing and promotional plans–including loyalty card pricing, tiered pricing models, version–specific features, and direct mail and coupon campaigns–all targeted to specific customer segments.
• For fast–moving–consumer–goods (FMCG) retailers, DemandTec 5 also augments the consumer insights derived from point–of–sale data with a full context understanding of the customer and the broader market, provided by incorporating consumer panel data, syndicated market data, and other analytics from leading market research providers such as . These insights help retailers answer questions such as: How are my marketing and merchandising programs impacting my market share? What is the optimal assortment for each of my locations to attract and retain customers and proactively address local area competitive formats?

About DemandTec
DemandTec's Consumer Demand Management software helps retailers and consumer products manufacturers strategically plan, optimize, and execute demand–driven merchandising and marketing programs based on a quantified understanding of consumer demand. Retailers have ranked DemandTec #1 in Strategic Value, Customer Satisfaction, and Quality of Service among the top 50 retail software vendors in the 2004 RIS Leaderboard survey. DemandTec customers include B&Q, Best Buy, Brookshire Grocery Company, Duane Reade, H–E–B Grocery Co., Longs Drugs, Monoprix, RadioShack, and Safeway. DemandTec software is provided via the IBM On Demand program. For more information, please visit www.demandtec.com

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