CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO – Feb. 27, 2006 – Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), the leading global provider of enterprise market information solutions for the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, today announced that it has formed a strategic relationship with Retail Express Limited to provide CPG retailers with a comprehensive price and promotion planning and optimization solution. Retail Express’ solution will be integrated into the IRI Consumer-Centric Merchandising™ Suite for Retailers, completing the comprehensive advanced category management retailer offerings available from IRI.
IRI is the sole distributor of Retail Express’ AMP2™ solution in North America. The solution, which will be marketed as the IRI Price and Promotion Manager™ solution and available as part of the IRI Consumer-Centric Merchandising (CCM) Suite for Retailers, is the only solution in the market that can manage all aspects of pricing and promotion planning, management, and optimization in one system, from initial marketing plans, to deal analysis, to offer creation, as well as price rules management. This streamlined approach will allow retailers to compress their planning windows to not only improve productivity, but also provide more up-to-date and accurate feedback on which products to promote, and at which price, to maximize their opportunity.
The CCM suite empowers retailers to tailor merchandising strategies and tactics to meet the needs of consumer segments and local markets, allowing them to drive customer loyalty, reduce out of stocks and increase sales and profit. The suite includes solutions for Category Planning, Assortment Planning, Space Planning and Automation – and now Price & Promotion Optimization – providing retailers with the only end-to-end Category Management solution that incorporates customer segment analysis, predictive analytic models, scenario modeling, and performance management capabilities.
“The combined capabilities from IRI and Retail Express provide unparalleled value to retailers looking for a comprehensive category management solution,” said IRI President and Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Klein. “Retailers can now look beyond point solutions to IRI for completely integrated pricing and promotion capabilities. No other offering in the marketplace integrates strategies from category management planning activities directly into price and promotion planning activities to help retailers gain greater productivity and improve performance.”
“Combining the IRI CCM suite and Retail Express’s AMP2™ creates a unique combination of robust process execution, consistent in-depth information and best practice analytics,” said Retail Express Chief Executive Officer Barry Grange. “The suite now offers retailers far more advanced decision making and decision execution than has ever been available before, with an end-to-end revenue and category management solution.” For more information on these solutions, please visit: www.infores.com.
About Retail Express Ltd.
Retail Express Ltd., a leading solution provider to the retail industry, has developed a comprehensive Revenue Management solution for retailers. With their decades of experience in retail, the company has created a solution suite that will bring retail merchandising processes, systems, and mathematics together to help retailers determine the optimum price, marketing, advertising and promotion for individual products within the offer and for each category throughout the store/group. For more information, visit: www.retailexpress.com.
About Information Resources, Inc.
Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) is the world’s leading provider of enterprise market information solutions and services, empowering its clients to grow their business profitably in a complex marketplace. Driving the transformation of the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, only IRI provides a unique combination of real-time market content, advanced analytics, enterprise performance management software, and professional services. The company’s portfolio of services, solutions, and technology enable leading retailers and their suppliers around the globe to see what they are missing, act faster with greater confidence and win at the shelf. Ninety-five percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 in CPG and retail leverage IRI to power their business. For more information, visit www.infores.com.