The Mobile Merchant become reality with TradeStone

Retail buyers are no longer bound by the constraints of their desk top work station thanks to new mobile capabilities resulting from TradeStone Software’s acquisition of Leap Ahead Solutions.

TradeStone Software, a merchandise lifecycle management solutions provider, is well known for its online marketplace called Bamboo Rose where retailers discover new products and suppliers. Leap Ahead Solutions, based in the United Kingdom, offers a mobile application called Retail Buyer that allows buyers to pictorially track samples, manage product ranges and calculate landed costs during buying trips and early in the lifecycle of each range period. Following the acquisition, TradeStone Software will sell and market the Retail Buyer offering under the name Mobile Merchant.

"It fits perfectly between TradeStone's merchandise lifecycle solutions and TradeStone's online marketplace, Bamboo Rose," said TradeStone CEO Sue Welch. "Merchants and buyers love the way it supports their buying operation and revolutionizes the way range buys are assembled over multiple buying trips and throughout the season."

For example, the Mobile Merchant app will served as a mobile workbench for buyers offering transparency, efficiency, accuracy and collaboration capabilities. Buyers will be able to see their ranges in one place and track what stage each item is at in real time. The head of buying feature will enable gaps in the ranges to be spotted at early stages, according to TradeStone Software. In terms of efficiency, buyers will see a reduction in time spent in range planning meetings and order lead times will be reduced as product can now be worked on while buying trips are still occurring.

Accuracy benefits because simple landed costs calculations will help guide buyers as they negotiate prices while in supplier showrooms and on market visits. The target margin and target cost price feature will enable fine tuning of price or product engineering, maximizing profit, according to TradeStone Software. Collaboration is enhanced as a result of information being shared with other functions such as merchandising, retail operations and franchise partners.