SAS® Retail Intelligence drives shareholder value

-- Software transforms data into intelligence, better decisions, improved margins --

NRF 95th Annual Convention and EXPO, NEW YORK (Jan. 16, 2006) – Retail is a dog-eat-dog world. Globalization, savvy consumers and e-commerce force retailers to hone every aspect of their operations. Wall Street rewards those that rise to the challenge and improve gross margins by using data efficiently to make better, faster decisions about merchandise, customers and operations.

SAS, the leader in business intelligence, understands that customer attrition, lower profits and dissatisfied shareholders result from ineffective data use. Building on nearly 30 years of experience as a partner to retailers, SAS has developed a suite of integrated solutions that span the entire retail operation. SAS® software helps retailers provide the right product at the right time in the right location, and please both customers and shareholders.

SAS retail solutions are built on a common business intelligence platform. SAS turns data about customers, merchandise and operations into knowledge, providing greater insight into performance and driving better business decisions. With SAS, retailers gain a competitive advantage, strengthen customer and vendor loyalty, and improve profitability.

“SAS helps retailers today plan, merchandise and operate more effectively and profitably,” said Lori Schafer, vice president of SAS’ global retail practice. “Built on a flexible and scalable enterprise business intelligence platform, SAS retail solutions can meet the changing needs of the industry, whether addressing the challenge of size optimization or harnessing the huge amounts of new data from RFID and other emerging technologies.”

SAS’ business intelligence solutions for retail comprise four key areas:

SAS® Customer Intelligence delivers fast, significant ROI by enabling retailers to conduct measurable, integrated marketing campaigns; maximize customer profitability, acquisition and retention; and leverage existing technology investments. Combining enterprise data integration and advanced analytics with campaign planning and management, SAS helps retailers predict customer behavior across all channels and target the right customer at the right time.

Merchandise intelligence from SAS, a family of solutions powered by the integration of SAS and Marketmax for managing the variability of demand and supply, offers a robust way to link sophisticated financial, merchandise and channel strategies to merchandise, assortment, pricing and promotion, space and allocation plans. SAS Retail offers a software suite for managing and optimizing revenue and margin through the entire merchandising life cycle – supported by a common demand intelligence platform. Advanced data integration, forecasting and analytic capabilities help retailers set and manage regular prices, plan optimal promotions and execute the most successful markdown strategies.

Operations intelligence from SAS helps retailers leverage organizational assets to sell and deliver merchandise and services efficiently and profitably. SAS solutions help retailers manage financial planning and reporting, regulatory compliance, IT infrastructure and services, real estate, workforce and complex supplier relationships.

Performance management solutions from SAS help retailers maximize profits across their entire value chain. With powerful capabilities for creating dashboards, scorecards and strategy maps, SAS helps retailers focus on, monitor and analyze key activities, and respond proactively to pressures and changes. SAS Activity-Based Management provides accurate financial information on the day-to-day activities of people, equipment and processes, helping retailers evaluate improvement opportunities and successfully implement cost-reduction strategies.

SAS®9 Enterprise Intelligence Platform lowers TC
All four areas are built atop the SAS®9 Enterprise Intelligence Platform, which provides comprehensive data integration, business intelligence and analytics. This platform significantly lowers retailers’ total cost of ownership, helping improve margins and deliver higher shareholder value.

SAS customers include hundreds of leading retailers worldwide, such as Bakers Footwear, Brooks Brothers, Burger King, Carrefour, Casino, Casual Male, The Children’s Place, Circuit City, Fakta, Federated Department Stores, Karstadt, Kohl’s, Li & Fung Retailing Group, The Limited, Lowe’s Companies, Luxottica Retail, Marks & Spencer, Newport News, Office Depot, Sainsbury’s, Sport Chalet, Staples, Tesco, Too Inc., Waitrose Limited, Wal-Mart, Williams-Sonoma and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. SAS is demonstrating its retail intelligence solutions in NRF Booth #111.