IT solution providers get bullish

Organised retail might be facing some tough times, but the solution providers are taking advantage of the situation by promising cost-effective solutions to these retailers. Most of the IT providers have learnt the art from their international parent companies, and now seek to provide the same to Indian retailers.

Speaking at India Retail Forum 2008, Maneesh Sah, marketing director, UK-based retail IT solution provider Torex APJ, said, "We are ready to set up shop in India and already have Argos under our belt."

"Torex is targeting more home-grown retailers with retail-J-POS that integrates POS and retail applications, business systems and databases; and Compass-SCM for planning the store layout, localised sizing and merchandise assortment," added Sah.

On the other hand is Germany-based Futura Group, which provides solutions for sale, product management, purchasing and controlling. With 15 Indian clients in multiple categories including Next, Tresmode, Pocket, Jaihind Collections, Vemb, and Varun Enterprises, Futura is targeting 50 clients by 2009-end.

CRITI is another such company which provides IT solutions to 45 retail players across different sizes and formats. "The company is now focusing on small and medium enterprises and tier II retailers. That is where the retail boom is happening, and the retailers need to grow with adequate back-end IT solutions to grow in a stronger way," said Gev Satarawala, senior vice president, CRITI, when speaking to Indiaretailing.

There are some other players such as TCI that provide back-end solutions, including 7.5 million square feet of warehousing to six main verticals that include auto, retail and CP, hi-tech, cold chain, life sciences and healthcare and telecom.

– Ananya Saha


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