Microsoft, Aldata collaborate on retail apps

Microsoft and Aldata, a Finland-based developer of retail applications, will develop a set of vertical applications for use with the Microsoft's upcoming Dynamics AX for Retail package, states Datamation.

Microsoft says it is on track to deliver Dynamics AX for Retail in 16 nations when it is released in August. Additional countries will be added early next year.

The package is designed for use by medium-sized businesses.

Technology will change the way you live, they say, and going by the items on display at the Retail Asia Expo Showcase 2010, that is well on the way, writes The Standard.

One of the 300 exhibitors packing them in at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is Leovation Limited - all because of its augmented reality solution. Named D'Fusion, the technology mixes one or more video inputs and 3D objects.

Visitors can flick through an invitation ticket or show guide and see it come to life as 3D animated graphics displayed on a screen. "Advanced retail technology and convenient shop design are increasingly vital to retail success and even more so in turbulent economic times," said Garrick Ng Wai-keung, consulting system engineer at Cisco Systems Hong Kong.

Xtra Mart is using Salient Management's enterprise performance management solution to optimise product mix, better allocate shelf space, and measure same-store sales to improve profitability, states CSP Net.

The chain, with 142 store locations throughout the Northeast of Connecticut, is experiencing rapid growth in the convenience segment and has recognised the need to have deeper insight into the growth drivers of its business.

It chose Salient's solution to help manage its business for the optimal mix of products and services as well as overall improved profitability.