Intentia Experts Say Seasonal Retail Is Extinct

Consumer Shopping Trends Push Retailers to Adopt Monthly Floor Sets

Magic Booth #22820 -- Intentia, the global enterprise solutions provider for the manufacturing, distribution and maintenance industries, predicts that retailers' success depends on the industry-wide adoption of monthly floor sets to meet customer demand for new merchandise.

"Traditionally, fashion retailers would purchase new collections four times a year for women to match up with the seasons -- and only twice a year for men. In today's demand-driven economy, customers require new merchandise much more often," says Bob McKee, fashion industry solutions director, Intentia Americas.

"Retailers are changing floor sets with ever increasing frequency, with some changing the floor mix as much as 12-24 times to accommodate customer demand and gain competitive advantage," says McKee.

This trend has created a new challenge. Rapid merchandise churn rates impact the entire apparel supply chain, requiring shorter cycle times and comprehensive, accurate product forecasts that limit inventory exposure. Intentia applications help customers in the apparel industry adapt to these new retail patterns by creating a lean, visible supply chain that remains flexible over time.

To deal with these new responsibilities, experts like McKee say retailers and manufacturers should increase collaboration with their supply chain partners. By sharing information, retailers can ensure that every party is making decisions and acting based on real-time data.

Manufacturers can know immediately when a new collection is finalized and ready for production, inventory can be managed according to evolving forecasts, and delivery can be timed to coincide with production cycles.

The Intentia Application Suite is customized for the fashion industry, and features solutions that enable collaborative commerce, including a margin calculator that cuts 50 percent of the time normally needed to calculate sales process based on pre-defined margins over cost figures.

Retailers can also customize their inventory forecasts with a hierarchy of demand based on categories such as country, region, customer group, product group or individual item. This gives organizations the flexibility to easily update the central forecast, which immediately translates into the supply chain.

Core functionality includes: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Management (ENM), Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Workplace Management (WPM), Value Chain Collaboration (VCC) and Foundation and Tools (FTO).

With more than 20 years of experience, Intentia enterprise software is built to meet the apparel industry's needs with little customization. Intentia products are used by more than 3,000 customers globally.

McKee, a 25-year veteran of the fashion industry, will be on-site at Magic on Tuesday, August 30 at booth #22820 and is available for interviews. MAGIC International is the world's largest and most widely recognized producer of trade shows for the apparel industry, featuring more than 3,000 manufacturers and over 5,000 brands and private label resources.

About Intentia

Intentia is the only global enterprise solutions provider 100% dedicated to bringing software applications and consulting services to companies whose core processes involve manufacturing, distribution and maintenance -- what we call the "make, move and maintain" market.

--  100% of our resources are committed to this market.
--  100% of our software is designed for this market.
--  100% of our experience is in serving this market.
    

Intentia customers are typically medium to large organizations that operate in complex supply chains with tough competition and limited internal resources. They require the reliability, experience and security of a substantial supplier with the flexibility and specialist knowledge of their industries and processes.

Intentia solutions are built from the ground up with the specific needs of these customers in mind, and the ability to grow and change easily with their businesses. They simplify complex processes, anticipate customer demands and deliver added value in both the short and long term -- making them the intelligent choice.

Intentia was founded in 1984 and serves over 3,000 customer sites in some 40 countries around the world. Our business solutions currently comprise enterprise management, supplier relationship management, customer relationship management, supply chain management, value chain collaboration, enterprise performance management and workplace management.

Intentia is a public company traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (XSSE) under the symbol INT B. Visit Intentia's Web site at www.intentia.com

Intentia
The Intelligent Choice

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