Retail Sales Education Takes Quantum Leap Forward With New Support From IHL Consulting Group

Business Wire, July 19, 2000

Business Editors

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2000

Education of retail technology sales personnel just got a lot easier with the release of the EyeRIS Retailer Reports from IHL Consulting Group. Technology vendors are arming their sales personnel with the knowledge of the key technology and performance of their customers to help them better understand the retailer's information systems needs.

The EyeRIS (Eye on Retail Information Systems) Retailer Reports provide sales and marketing personnel technical overviews of hundreds of North American Retailers. Samples of the technologies profiled for each retailer include hardware and software for POS systems, data warehousing, category management, merchandising systems, B2B and B2C Ecommerce, CRM, distribution and logistics systems, space managment, time and attendance, labor scheduling, loss prevention, sales audit, knowledge management, finance and accounting, training and education, HR, benefits, ERP, and customer loyalty systems.

"Every technology company faces turnover and struggles to keep sales personnel trained on the retail market," says Greg Buzek, President of IHL Consulting Group. "The EyeRIS reports provide companies with account specific information to help identify opportunities, potential partners, and key personnel to contact within their targeted accounts. They help sales and marketing personnel identify what to sell, who to sell to, as well as what products on what platforms the retailer is likely to buy."

According to Buzek, the reports also include competitive comparisons on key financial metrics that reveal where each retailer might need assistance in competing against their competitors. "If a sales rep is calling on Kroger (NYSE:KR), knowing how Kroger performs in Gross Margins, Profit Margins, Inventory Turns, and Sales/Employees compared to Albertsons (NYSE:ABS), Safeway (NYSE:SWY), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is critical for understanding what types of systems that they might be in the market to purchase in the next 12 months. One of the keys to making the sale is not just knowing the customer, but also the customer's customer and the customer's competitors. These retailer reports provide this kind of insight in a compact and easy to understand way for the sales rep."

The EyeRIS database includes information on over 2,800 North American retailers and will be released via reports in three phases. Phase 1, currently includes detailed company reports on 270 top retailers in the Food/Grocery, Chain Drug, Specialty Hard and Soft Goods, Department Stores, and Mass Merchandiser segments. Examples of key retailers in these segments include Winn Dixie (NYSE:WIN), Kmart (NYSE: KM), Walgreens (NYSE:WAG), Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), Gap (NYSE:GPS), Sears (NYSE:S), and Target (NYSE:TGT).

IHL Consulting Group is a business-consulting firm headquartered in Boynton Beach, Florida that provides market analysis and business consulting services for information technology companies that focus on the retail industry. For more information, visit the company's web site at http://www.ihlservices.com.