UltiSales Retail Software, part of the JSE listed UCS Group, has notched up 300 point-of-sale software sites in Botswana via its distributor, Ultimate Solutions - and is expecting to increase sales by at least 20% during the next 12 months.

Pick n Pay on July 15 opened its revamped Faerie Glen Hypermarket, and has become the first Hypermarket to deploy Pricer’s electronic shelf labelling (ESL) system.

Retailers are encountering increasing pressure to offer customers a fully-integrated multi-channel experience where products can be bought online and collected in-store. While traditional IT integration can naturally offer this solution, a relatively new technology, service oriented architecture (SOA), is providing retailers additional advantages.

Stuttafords International Fashion Company has added a touch of style to its ICT setup and management of digital communication with an investment in the integration of a new unified messaging and collaboration solution, as well as support and helpdesk services from its ICT managed services partner, the Integr8 Group.

Major hardware business, Mica Investments, which late last year bought itself out from listed Super Group, is planning to standardise on the same version of point of sale software from UltiSales Retail Software, part of the JSE listed UCS Group Ltd, SA’s leading retail software company.

Pick n Pay has successfully completed electronic shelf label (ESL) pilot projects using Pricer equipment at two stores in the Western Cape and a trial regional rollout at 23 stores and 12 liquor stores in KwaZulu-Natal. Pick n Pay has also implemented the Pricer ESL system in its first seven PnP/BP Express stores in the Western Cape.

How do today’s successful retail organisations protect revenue and accelerate growth? Hannes Lategan, solutions strategist at CA Southern Africa, examines how Application Performance Management (APM) can help the industry consistently deliver rewarding customer service by proactively minimising service-availability risks to assure end-to-end customer transactions.

With heightened competition in the marketplace it has become critical for retailers to connect more frequently and relevantly with their customers, and they are managing to achieve this through gearing their technology infrastructure to support marketing automation solutions.

QlikTech has unveiled how its dynamic analysis of information is delivering top and bottom line results across the retail and wholesale industries. More than 1 000 global retail and wholesale companies using QlikView include Alessi, Body Shop Italia, Eden Park, Fila Europe, Grotto (Gas Jeans), HR Group, Magasin, National Frozen Foods, Robinsons Group, Stonefly, Siba, The Cocoa Trees, Verdecora, VIP Auto, Visionlab, and WH Smith.

Running a retail or wholesale business in the hardware/building supply industry in the current economic climate requires innovative, affordable and effective IT solutions in order to remain profitable and competitive.

In-store media services provider Primedia Instore has embarked on a mobile technology implementation drive that will enable its retail store promotional staff countrywide to report back on individual store campaigns to regional and head offices on-line in real time no matter where they are.

Retail is one of the first industries to feel the immediate effects of lower disposable income and reduced consumer demand. At the same time, the typical retailer runs a labour-intensive operation where operating costs are fairly fixed.