UAE Retail Giant 'EMKE Group (LuLu Chain Stores) Among First in MENA to increase Business Clarity and Transparency from SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has signed a deal to supply EMKE Group, the owner of a raft of well-known supermarkets and shopping malls in the region, with its groundbreaking new SAP BusinessObjects Explorer solution supporting the retail group's demand for business clarity and transparency.

The retail giant, which has a 32 percent market share across the GCC, is one of the first firms to adopt the solution in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The SAP BusinessObjects solution will allow EMKE to collate product data from daily sales across all its Lulu chain stores, located across the region, providing valuable insight and intelligence for the business.

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer uses an index that acts like a key to unlock the required data from the huge quantities of information generated by large retailers. The product-specific information is delivered in real- time and can be used to give a clear view of an organisation's daily operations and inform critical decisions, according to Madav Rao, chief information officer at EMKE Group.

"In retail, with the data warehouse you need robust data mining capability because of the huge number of sales transactions that take place each day. What SAP BusinessObjects Explorer allows us to do is access up-to-the-minute information on all the key performance indicators, quickly," said Madhav Rao, chief information officer at EMKE Group. SAP BusinessObjects Explorer software places the power of business intelligence into the hands of employees, ensuring the clarity and insight to act more quickly and make smarter, more effective business decisions, by offering users an intuitive path to quickly search and explore data for instant insight into their business.

"The software streamlines the entire data process, from internal procurement to the customer experience, telling you when specific stocks need to be replenished and whether certain ranges are selling well or not, at each store. A successful retail business needs end-to-end clarity in order to make critical decisions that allow it to retain a vital edge and enable sustainable growth - that is what SAP BusinessObjects Explorer offers." Rao added.

The ability to make informed and proactive decisions based on real-time intelligence is essential in today's competitive retail industry where the customer experience is the key to retaining and increasing market share, points out Sergio Maccotta, Managing Director, SAP Middle East and Africa.

"SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is a business intelligence tool that allows firms to access the data they need within a few clicks of a mouse. If you have easy access to such precise intelligence, ultimately that can be translated in practical terms to improving the customer experience. It allows retailers to individualise business plans for each store, maximizing their appeal, in terms of store layout and product ranges, to the target customer," Maccotta added. "In today's fickle and fast-paced market, this level of agility is invaluable." EMKE Group owns a range of supermarkets, hypermarkets, department stores and shopping malls that serve 320,000 customers per day. It is expected to commence installation of Business Explorer at its Group headquarters in Abu Dhabi this September.

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer brings together search and navigation capabilities from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio with SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Accelerator, (SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator), software, to deliver the most significant and largest combination of SAP and Business Objects technology to date.(C) 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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