SAP to buy retail software vendor

SAP plans to buy SAF Simulation, Analysis and Forecasting, a Swiss developer of retail forecasting software, reports PC World.

The German giant already resells SAF's analysis tool as part of the forecasting and replenishment module of its enterprise resource planning software, but now wants full control of the smaller company.

SAF's three main products, SuperForecast, SuperStore and SuperWarehouse, help retailers and wholesalers to forecast sales and automate the reordering of goods. The goal is to help users reduce inventory without having to tell a customer they are out of stock.

IDC Insights, a series of industry-specific research and advisory services, has introduced the IDC manufacturing and retail Insights communities, the latest additions to the company's Insights Community, a dynamic technology buyer community, reports Business Wire.

The IDC Insights Community is designed to help facilitate the important discussions that need to take place in today's businesses and provide a forum for information exchange and idea generation among peers.

In the spirit of social networking, the goal of the community is to create a forum for IT and business professionals to discuss technology issues within the context of their business.

Ted Baker has introduced features to its database to improve stock allocation and replenishment, states Computing.co.uk.

The enhancements mean the firm is now able to set up flexible grading structures and model initial stock allocations prior to despatch, and use advanced replenishment algorithms.

“The immediate benefit [of the new features] has been to halve the time spent by the teams in both setting up gradings and creating initial allocations,” said Lee Greenwood, international senior merchandiser at Ted Baker.