Lawson Retail Advisors Identify Improving Profitability, Accurate Analysis, and Inventory Management as Critical Issues

Business Wire, April 14, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 2003

At Lawson Software's (Nasdaq:LWSN) annual Retail Advisory Board Meeting, many of the nation's leading retailers were most concerned about improving profitability, according to an attendee survey conducted for the two-day meeting to identify the most pressing business issues in the retail industry today. The top business issues facing retail organizations in 2003 cited by the respondents are:

-- Improving net profitability by increasing revenues, reducing

costs, improving operational efficiency and optimizing the

retail workforce;

-- The need for consistent, accurate analysis of key metrics to

enable faster, more confident business decisions; and

-- Maintaining an optimum balance between inventory levels and

product availability.

"Our long-term commitment and industry-focused strategy on the retail market means understanding the most critical financial and operational pressures facing our customers," said Carol Mackenzie, retail market director, Lawson Software. "The deep insights learned from this group of retail industry leaders help us determine best enterprise practices and solutions that truly return dollars to the bottom line for our retail customers."

Lawson Board members also pointed to a number of IT initiatives as most critical for the retail industry, including:

-- Standardization of applications and providing integration

between disparate systems;

-- Obtaining greater visibility to key metrics that improve

decision making and contribute to operational excellence; and

-- Addressing business initiatives with limited financial capital

and constrained IT resources.

AMR Research Director of Global Retail Peter Abell, who presented to the group on trends driving retail change, offers recommendations addressing the issues as most critical to IT found in the survey's findings: "Retailers and their trading partners need to come together in a Consumer Connected Supply Network (CCSN) in order to both increase their profitability. Retailers require architectures and business solutions that work both towards cutting costs in addition to increasing revenues," from the AMR Research Report, April 2003.

Lawson's Retail Advisory Board includes chief financial officers, chief information officers and other senior IT and financial executives from many of the largest U.S. retail companies, including Friendly Ice Cream Corporation, Harman Management Corporation, Holiday Companies, Wilson's Leather, and a number of other leading national specialty, grocery and clothing chain stores. The board also includes Lawson consulting partners and retail industry experts. Board members offer customer and third-party perspectives on the retail business, IT trends and issues, and provide feedback on Lawson's retail strategies and products.

Lawson's industry-focused software solutions enable retailers to easily integrate the systems they use to run and grow their businesses. These solutions provide financial information and analysis needed to increase profit margins, and solutions to manage inventory flow and the employee "hire to retire" process. Lawson customers include five of the top 10 U.S.-based retailers, eight of the top 20 apparel retailers, seven of the top 25 grocery chains, 23 of the top 100 restaurant chains and 20 of the top 100 specialty chains.

About Lawson Software

Lawson Software provides business process software solutions that help service organizations in the healthcare, retail, professional services, public sector, financial services and other strategic markets achieve a competitive advantage. Lawson's solutions include enterprise performance management, distribution, financials, human resources, procurement, merchandising and services automation. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Lawson has offices and affiliates serving North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Additional information about Lawson is available at www.lawson.com.