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Vendors adding new software at upcoming markets

By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 2, 2009

In this story:
Escalate
Icovia
MicroD
Profitsystems
Storis

HIGH POINT — Here's a quick look at what some of the leading technology companies plan to introduce at the upcoming Las Vegas and High Point markets:

Escalate

Escalate's Advanced Merchandising product will be highlighted at the company's annual users' conference in April and at that month's market in High Point. In addition, the company will be focused on its latest offerings in CRM and e-commerce.

The Advanced Merchandising software module addresses the challenge of buying overseas to get a lower cost on goods, and provides a comprehensive view and tracking of the costs associated with getting that lower price point. The product has been upgraded into a browser-based product, taking advantage of new technologies. Features enable users to compare the true cost when buying from different parts of the globe — for example, China vs. Vietnam vs. North Carolina — helping retailers to make the right buy.

CRM provides the ability to track the customer from initial contact all the way through to sale and afterwards. The brand can be promoted to that customer using their preferences and needs as a basis, and the software also provides customer profile and segmentation capabilities.

Escalate noted that e-commerce is becoming a bigger factor in home furnishings, with the latest numbers showing that 75% of consumers research products online before visiting stores. Escalate's e-commerce product provides a quantifiable return on investment, according to the company. It enables retailers to reach out to customers “just looking” on the Web, and is suited for those retailers wishing to grow their Web channel to equal half or more of total revenues.

Icovia

At this month's Las Vegas Market, Icovia will be introducing a low-cost initiative — Icovia Design Edition — that enables retailers and manufacturers to advertise products to interior designers and consumers. The product puts furniture in front of users in the context of them designing their spaces. The images are not ads but symbols, photos and descriptions of furniture that users can place in a floorplan design using Icovia's software. The company said it's relevant to what the users are doing and raises product awareness at the perfect time for the potential consumer —when they are designing their space from the comfort of home. Users can click on a simple link that leads them to the retailer's Web site or send an e-mail requesting more information directly to the retailer.

Icovia also plans to show at the April High Point Market, in the new Retail Resource Center of the International Home Furnishings Center.

MicroD

MicroD will planning a new release of ePreVue Turbo, a Web-based product catalog presentation for retailers and manufacturers. With more than 250 vendors' products available through the Turbo, retailers can instantly increase the product content available on Web sites, leading to increased leads and sales opportunities. The software's strong search engine optimization capabilities also help draw consumers to retailers' Web sites as they search for product information through search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Profitsystems

The company plans to introduce its newest version of Profitprofessional software at the September Las Vegas market. In addition to improved system tools that help retailers manage both their inventory and customer opportunities more efficiently, the company also is providing new marketing and e-commerce tools designed to bring more customers into stores.

Storis

In both Las Vegas and High Point, the company plans a number of new features in its R8.6 release, including enhancements to accounts payables, general ledger, multi-lingual user experience, quick launch icons, menu builder, line item delivery, merchandise reservations and forms designer. For instance, accounts payable has been redesigned to provide retailers with a fully integrated, real-time payables processing solution, presented within Storis' intelligent Vision R8 Windows interface.

Multi-lingual offers the ability to quickly import translated text into screen presentations and files in English, Spanish, French and other languages.

Quick launch icons is a new feature that improves productivity and customer satisfaction by providing employees with quick, easy access to Storis processes. Menu builder is a completely redesigned feature that allows a system administrator to easily create menu trees either from scratch or from existing menus. For line item delivery, the company has added the ability to assign multiple delivery dates to sales orders, an intelligent option that allows for individual multi-quantity merchandise items to have several delivery dates assigned.

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