InSite™ Delivers Optimized C-Store Solution, Driving Opportunities for Accelerated Value Creation
AUSTIN, TX, April 28, 2003 - PerformanceRetail, Inc. the leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the convenience retail industry, has introduced a new version of InSite™, its flagship retail software and services suite. With a significant number of functional and scalability enhancements, this release of the InSite solution has been further optimized to address the specific merchandising and store operations requirements of convenience retailers and provide additional opportunities for increased revenue and improved operational efficiencies. PerformanceRetail will demonstrate InSite at the NACStech 2003 conference, Booth # 429, April 29-30 in Dallas, Texas.
In recent years, the convenience retailing industry has seen new entrants from other retail channels, which use centralized distribution and control capabilities to drive down prices, streamline store operations and improve customer service. These new, efficient competitive threats, coupled with shrinking margins on items such as gasoline, have forced c-store retailers to look for new ways to improve their merchandising capabilities.
InSite is a suite of fully integrated, web-based applications built specifically to address this requirement.
Highlights of InSite include:
• Optimized for Convenience Retailing Each of InSite`s modular applications provides advanced capabilities designed to improve the profitability and efficiency of specific convenience retail operations. InSite provides a comprehensive set of functionality to automate merchandising, price book and category management; supplier management; store operations, daily settlement and inventory management; site fuel management; alerts, reporting and analysis; and retail financials.
• Web-based, Hosted InSite eliminates the need for convenience retailers to invest in dedicated hardware or software to run the system. InSite`s applications modules are hosted in PerformanceRetail`s secure data center facilities and accessed over a secure Internet connection via a standard web browser using the retailer’s existing network infrastructure.
• Modular Architecture InSite`s suite of applications can be implemented as an end-to-end solution or easily separated and implemented in stages, automating specific c-store functions at the retailer`s pace. This gives convenience retailers a manageable path for integrating automated capabilities into their business and quickly achieving value, while minimizing implementation risks. Further, the architecture enables straightforward integration with 3rd party applications, enabling convenience retailers to protect investments made in other technology and improve them over time.
• Low Cost of Entry InSite provides a variety of licensing options design to enable convenience retailers to quickly achieve value. For example, the solution can be licensed on a monthly, per-store subscription basis, eliminating the need for convenience retailers to commit to significant upfront license fees. With this model, retailers can easily add new stores to the system as their business dictates, eliminating the need to make a large technology investment before their business is ready.
New to InSite
This version of InSite has been enhanced to provide additional functionality, performance improvements and usability enhancements across the entire suite of applications, further tuning the solution to the unique requirements of convenience retailers. Highlights include:
• Ordering, receiving and invoicing enhancements, including automated suggested ordering and product replenishment capabilities. This functionality further automates supplier interfaces, streamlines operational processes, improves consistency and accuracy and reduces operational costs.
• Integration with point-of-sale devices, providing end-to-end functionality from store operations to category management and merchandising processes at the home office. At the store, the daily settlement process has been fully automated including integrated daily close activities for merchandise, fuel and other products, cash balancing, financial reconciliations and sales reporting.
• Inventory management enhancements, including Pocket InSite, a Pocket PC-based application that enables store personnel to receive orders, perform stock counts and other activities from anywhere in the store using popular handheld scanning devices. Pocket InSite features intuitive screens and streamlined processes, significantly reducing receiving and stock count times, reducing errors and improving performance.
• The InSite Portal, a browser-based interface from which users access all InSite applications from a secure connection on the Internet or via a private network. The portal features easy to use screens, streamlined processes and can be personalized to the requirements of individual roles.
• A comprehensive suite of reporting capabilities designed to improve category management processes by highlighting specific retail performance parameters and value drivers. With InSite`s Alerts, users are automatically notified of changes in key business metrics, such as low inventory levels, price overrides, cost exceptions and promotional performance, enabling the user to take timely action to resolve any issues. InSite also provides a broad range of packaged reports, tailored to the unique requirements of specific user roles, simplifying the presentation of retail performance data to the information needed to improve the business. Users also have the ability to customize data access and generate reports for their specific needs. Further, InSite provides a comprehensive data warehousing and business analytics capability, enabling category managers and other users to perform detailed analysis on results, trends and scenarios.
• Price book enhancements, including the ability to make mass changes across a network of sites, streamlining price book administration and reducing costs.
• Optimized performance over VSAT and other low bandwidth/high latency networks.
• Automated Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) functionality, allowing users to setup and control recipe items and report royalties and associated financial transactions.
• A comprehensive set of automated reconciliations for cash, fuel receipts, bank deposits, phone cards, money orders, lottery/lotto and other store totals to externally verifiable totals.
• A complete set of user documentation, job aides and online training all accessible through the InSite portal that, when coupled with PerformanceRetail`s implementation services, provides for lower-risk implementations.
"The sales uplift, margin improvement and cost reduction benefits provided by InSite are dramatic, but at the end of the day, the speed at which convenience retailers can quickly achieve value will determine the winners in this market," said Gregg Burt, president and CEO of PerformanceRetail. "This release of InSite represents a significant move forward in our efforts to provide a functionally rich, highly scalable, modular software solution that enables accelerated creation of value."
About PerformanceRetail
PerformanceRetail is the leading provider of web-based software for the convenience retailing industry. InSite, the company`s integrated suite of retail software applications, enables retailers to improve the profitability and efficiency of key business processes such as merchandising, site operations, fuel management, performance analysis and financials. PerformanceRetail’s modular, hosted solutions and comprehensive services ensure customers realize value quickly while reducing upfront capital expenditures and ongoing support costs. By partnering with PerformanceRetail, industry leaders are transforming their retail operations into highly competitive, customer-driven profit centers. For more information, visit www.performanceretail.com.
Contact:
Dean Cruse
PerformanceRetail
512.527.6513
dean_cruse@performanceretail.com
David Lord
Blanc & Otus Public Relations
512.335.8771 ext. 13
dlord@blancandotus.com
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