SAP America

Los Gatos, Calif. – Crocs will implement Centric Software’s product lifecycle management software. Crocs will implement the full Centric 8 PLM suite to manage its product development process, including concept, design and sourcing.

The company will implement the Centric system on a worldwide basis to hundreds of users, including Crocs suppliers and partners. Crocs will integrate Centric 8 with its SAP enterprise software, according to Dale Bathum, Crocs’ chief product officer.

For the second time in the past six years, 99 Cents Only said it was unable to file its annual report within the timeframe specified by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company’s annual report on form 10-K for its fiscal year ended March 30 was due at the SEC no later than June 28. However, because of a range of inventory valuation issues identified by auditors and a new CFO, the company said it was unable to file the report without unreasonable effort or expense. The company did not indicate when it planned to file the report other than as soon as practicable.

Bradenton, Fla. -- Beall’s Inc. has replaced legacy point-of-sale software and hardware at 450 Beall’s Outlet and Burke’s Outlet stores with the latest version of  SAP’s POS application (POS 2.3 system).

As fans of the late ’90s Ben Affleck-Matt Damon film “Good Will Hunting” know, Cambridge, Mass., is often viewed as the province of what are locally referred to as “smaht kids.” I was privileged to be surrounded by “smaht kids” (or their grown-up equivalent) during the recent MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, which was held at Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus in Cambridge. While there, I got to listen to their insights on how the evolution of IT and business is dramatically changing the role of the CIO.

WESTPORT, Conn. — TCC, a global leader in retail marketing programs, has appointed former PepsiCo executive Van B. Sapp as president of TCC Americas. In his new role, Sapp will be responsible for TCC's operations in North and South America, adding capabilities with licensed properties and integrating digital components to current customer initiatives.  

NEW YORK, N.Y. — OrderGroove, a leader in subscription retail solutions, has appointed Mike Camp as COO.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Retail Velocity and SAP Applications have expanded their partnership to develop and launch the Velocity Demand Data Streaming Service, which will integrate data streams from retailers and distributors and show manufacturers the impact consumers have on the supply chain.

By Mark Ledbetter, [email protected]

There's a season for everything, and that's no less true for retailers. Merchants have historically enjoyed a central position in the retail universe, driving everything from pricing to availability. How quickly things have changed. Today, try telling a 19-year-old that she can't get a discount on the slightly frayed jeans she found on the discount rack. She'll buy a similar pair online and Tweet about it so fast, it will make your head spin!

New York -- More than half (53%) of industry leaders believe that improving customers’ retail experience is essential to creating a successful mobile payments scheme, according to a recent survey by SAP.

The study, SAP’s third consecutive GSMA Mobile World Congress survey, found that the “secret sauce” for creating a better retail experience includes POS services such as near-field communication (28%), facilitating universal acceptance of mobile payments (25%) and location-based point-of-sale offerings (24%).

HANOVER, Germany — SAP announced that it has enhanced its OnDemand software solution to empower businesses to know their customers like never before, guide them through each step of the buyer's journey and groom customers to become loyal brand advocates.