Market Analyst

As a Market Analyst, you are expected to assess the future prospects of publicly listed companies and private corporations going through an IPO process. One factor that influences the future performance of retailers is their computer system. Such systems are critically important in every retail chain because they allow the management to control the business and its remote branches. Without a good computer system retailers cannot have the right stock in the right place at the right time, and at the right price. A business is guaranteed to consistently under-perform if a retailer ends up with a deficient computer system.

So how can you accurately assess the computer systems used by a retailer? What is likely to happen when the retail business is listed or re-listed on stock exchange? Should you recommend it as a 'buy'? Are their results sustainable? What will happen in the medium to long term?

A good way to start is to look at the systems used by the retailer from two angles; how good are they and how much do they cost?

The Retail Directions system allows retailers to achieve the 'Star' rating. Our systems are highly capable at a reasonable cost. Our customers get more - for a fraction of the cost of other systems.

Amazingly, some retailers spent hundreds of millions (yes, you are reading correctly) on their retail systems. It is obvious that even if they do end up with a working solution, their bottom line will remain damaged for a long time. Funds that could have gone into other parts of the business such as stores or stock were wasted on IT. Yes - wasted - because money spent unnecessarily does not meet the standard definition of an expense which is: money that was legitimately spent to run the business. Retailers in this uncomfortable position fall into the 'Perpetual Pain' quadrant.

Some retailers fared considerably worse, having spent big money with nothing to show for it. These businesses fall into the "Disaster" quadrant.

How does a retailer end up in one of the top quadrants? By making one or more of the following mistakes:

Selecting a non-retail specific solution, such as a system originally designed as an accounting or a manufacturing package. A tank or a bike converted into a limousine will never be a good family car.
Selecting a solution that requires thousands of hours to implement, resulting in high risk, high costs and a massive time impost on the entire business.
Selecting a solution that uses typical system architecture rather than architecture required for mission-critical retail systems.
Selecting fragmented systems, under the seductive banner of 'Best of Breed' strategy, a peculiar way of saying "no strategy at all".
Selecting a system from an unproven supplier.
Selecting a system that was built using a fashionable development platform, rather than on a set of platforms that deliver the right outcome for the retailers. For example, to use Java for batch processing is not a good idea.
Selecting a system that uses a proprietary database or programming language, making it impossible for the retailer to ever assume control of the application.
Selecting a system from a supplier that is too large for the retailer. If the retailer does not register on the supplier's radar screen they will be given poor service and will still be charged a lot. If the supplier's legal department is comparable in size to the retailer's entire team, the retailer has made a catastrophic mis-judgement.

Retail Directions software is used by numerous retail chains, some of which are publicly listed. The systems from Retail Directions work well, are fully integrated, are highly reliable and are very cost effective. So if you want to be comfortable that the retailer you endorse has a strong IT system in place and if you want to minimise risk in your assessment, check whether they are using Retail Directions. If they are, you can tick an important positive point on your check list.

Few retailers can deliver great results without the technology from Retail Directions.

And we do not have a legal department.