IRUG - Newsletter

Innovation in the Store and Beyond
Highlights of the 30th Annual IBM Retail User Group Conference
May 19-23, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada
by Tina L. Horne, Ph.D.
IBM Retail Store Solutions

Held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 30th Annual Conference of the IBM Retail User Group brought together retailers, IBM solution partners and IBM to discuss ideas, trends, and the technology shaping the future of retail solutions. An overwhelming success, this year’s conference, “Innovation in the Store and Beyond” exceeded all expectations according to attendees. The conference delivered the retail industry’s latest ideas and strategies through 45 elective sessions to a gathering of almost 400 retail executives, IBM business partners, and IBM personnel. In addition, over 50 associate members participated in the exhibits showing products and services that support the IBM retail solution environment.

This year’s event was even more popular than last year, seeing a 15% increase in attendance, with more retailers attending than ever before. And, the feedback was very positive. The recent expansion of the association’s focus beyond the four walls of the store brought participation from all areas of retail management, with participants learning from and networking with some of the most influential names in retailing.

Feedback from attendees gave the conference an overall 4.4 rating out of a possible 5, the highest rating ever and almost unheard of for a Business Conference. A comment from one of the attendees was indicative of the overall response; “I liked it a lot and plan to attend next year.”

Bob L. Martin, Independent Business Executive and former President and CEO of Wal-Mart International, delivered the keynote address and also received a Lifetime Innovation Award from the User Group. Mr. Martin is one of the founders of the IBM Retail User Group and is a globally recognized retail industry leader, influential in the development of many of the retail industry’s most advanced technologies and retail strategies. Mr. Martin spoke about the challenge for retailers of “Chasing Change”, but argued that innovation must be a part of the corporate fabric for companies to survive and win, and that technology remains the “key driver” of the powerful trends that are shaping the way consumers will be served in the future.

Other main tent attractions were presentations from prominent retailers including Metro/real, Caribou Coffee, Home Depot, G.I. Joe’s, Belk Stores, Pathmark Stores, The Sharper Image, Safeway, Ahold and John Lewis, UK. Dan Clark, who is a world-renowned speaker as well as the primary contributing author to the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series and author of twenty of his own books, wowed the audience with his master storytelling ability and inspirational message.

Steve Ladwig, General Manager of IBM’s Retail Store Solutions, delivered the IBM executive perspective on the revolution taking place in retail and how that is driving IBM’s global retail strategy. John Gaydac, Executive Advocate for the User Group and VP of Sales of the Americas Group for IBM Retail Store Solutions offered insights into IBM’s retail strategy – to deliver solutions that create customer value, improve store operations and overcome technology constraints.

An additional 40 sessions were offered by IBM and their retail solution partners. The sessions addressed Technology Direction, IBM Hardware Updates, Store Architecture, Store Integration Framework, Enhancing the Shopping Experience, Platform Migration, Front End Optimization, CISP Card Data Security, Data Governance, and many more. Numerous brainstorming and “share the experience” roundtable sessions were also available.

Innovation in the use of technology remains a key driver of the powerful trends that are shaping the way the consumer shops and will be served in the future. This year, to recognize technology innovation leaders, the User Group established the annual “Retail Innovation Award”. The 2007 winner was Safeway Inc. working with Balance Innovations for their “VeriCash” project, which was created to customize and install cash office software and hardware at all Safeway locations. As one of three finalists, Safeway was selected as the winner by the User Group’s retail membership at the conference.

Dan Hopping received a special award for his twenty-seven years of service and commitment to the User Group.

The 31st annual conference will be held in Orlando, FL. Reserve May 18 -21, 2008 on your calendar now, and look for more details about this exciting event in upcoming issues of the POST.

The “IBM Retail User Group”

A New Brand for the 4th Generation
by Jill Fisher

As we all know, the one constant is change. As retailers, IBM professionals, and IBM business partners, we all try to adjust the dial every day to pilot our strategies through the latest vagaries of the change that drives us. The User Group is no different. We must maintain our relevance to our members in order to achieve the stated goals of the organization.

We will soon be celebrating our 30th year…30 years and lots of change. The time is right for a new look—a new brand.

A Short History…
Early users of IBM’s 3650 RSS founded the IBM Store Systems User Group in 1977. The organization consisted of a small group (6 to be exact) of department store retailers, pioneer users of IBM POS, and IBM retail system professionals. The original name was “IBM RSS Users Group”. They met in the fall and spring to discuss mutual problems, share solutions, and learn from each other to derive the most benefit from their POS investment.

As the organization grew, adding specialty, supermarket, and hospitality retailers to their ranks, their focus broadened to include the diversified POS platforms represented. It was this diversification, and the introduction of the PC that lead to the inclusion of associate members, IBM business partners, broadening total store solutions. Today retailers, IBM, IBM business partners, and several Retail Professional groups comprise the membership.

The User Group has served its purpose well for three decades under a variety of names, the longest-standing being “IBM POS Users Group”. In 2000, in recognition of the rapidly-changing store environment, we changed the name to “IBM Store Systems User Group”. And in the past 3-4 years, our annual conference agenda has reflected the broadening scope of retail, as we introduced topics like e-commerce, Linux, and RFID.

The term “store” can no longer effectively define what we do. We moved a long time ago from Point-of-Sale to Point-of-Service and further to Point-of-Contact. The reality of today’s retail industry is a broader more consumer-focused, interdependent environment working together to effectively meet customer expectations. All the elements of the retail enterprise—stores, merchandising, operations, logistics, financial, e-commerce, et al—are interconnected through technology and the IS infrastructure that supports it.

In keeping pace with the dynamics of the retail industry the, IBM Store Systems User Group has changed its name to “IBM Retail User Group”. The time is right to expand the focus of the association to incorporate and integrate all the elements of IBM retail including: Websphere, Linux, I-series, host and enterprise systems, and other solutions and services. The name of the group is changing to “IBM Retail User Group” to reflect the new focus of the retail association and the expanded education and networking environment.

You will see our new branding as we migrate to this broadened scope. We are all excited to be part of the changing face of our organization and hope that you will join us in the journey.

The “IBM Retail User Group”

A New Brand for the 4th Generation by Jill Fisher

A New Brand for the 4th Generation
by Jill Fisher