Epicor(R) Showcases New Innovations in Mobile Marketing for Improved Customer Engagement

Epicor's Challenge to Retailers: Why Just Text When You Can Inspire?

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - 01/10/11) - NRF 2011 -- Booth 2015 -- Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ:EPIC - News), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions to the midmarket and Global 1000 companies, today issued a challenge to retailers imploring them to employ more creativity and strategy in their mobile marketing efforts.

Raising the bar for mobile messaging, Epicor is hosting a live demonstration of text messaging innovation and inspiration here at NRF. "This year we're demonstrating new ways retailers can leverage text messaging functionality that are different and more strategic when compared with how the vast majority of retailers are using it today," said Randy Tofteland, executive vice president, retail software for Epicor. "Retailers have an opportunity to leverage mobile messaging for tremendous impact; however, they need to inspire consumers to take action outside of just reading the text."

"By opting-in to text messaging, a consumer has already indicated their interest in receiving information and offers about a brand, which indicates some level of loyalty and/or preference toward that brand. In the U.S., there is a very high read rate for opt-in text messages (95%); however, many retailers are missing this tremendous opportunity by employing ineffective or underwhelming text messaging efforts that are not proving successful in driving revenue or conversion," he said.

Epicor believes it can change this and empower retailers to fully capitalize on this opportunity. Through its Epicor Mobile Marketing solution, Epicor enables retailers to create mobile messaging campaigns that instill personal connections with customers, and encourage them to interact with the store environment and online. The end result is better brand and customer loyalty, as well as additional revenues.

Mobile Messaging: Enabling the Cross-channel Retail World

Mobile messaging arms retailers with a powerful and strategic marketing tool that can augment cross-channel efforts, providing significant competitive advantage.

Epicor is helping retailers leverage text messaging for in store self-service/customer service, providing real-time connections to satisfy customer needs, to both empower customers and relieve overwhelmed store associates. Guided by in store displays, customers can text a key word to a short code to get information about that product. Customers will receive a text message with an embedded link to a mobile optimized Web page where they can view product information, pricing, consumer reviews and ultimately purchase the product. Consumers may also find features such as store locators, "send to friend," and sign up for text message alerts for on-going specials, offers and promotions.

This use of mobile messaging helps support cross-channel efforts to unite in store and online worlds. Which aligns with what Sahir Anand, vice president and principal analyst of Aberdeen's Retail and Banking research practice is seeing in the market. "What is capturing the imagination of retailers is the expanded utility of the consumer's mobile phone as a cross-channel retail tool in the physical brick and mortar stores for promotional coupon delivery, dynamic merchandise and point of purchase decision messaging, automatic check-in, product alerts, and other advanced clienteling functions," Anand said. "Retailers will need to develop a solid base of business processes, organizational, knowledge, and performance management capabilities, in order to realize the mobile messaging, marketing, and channel integration gains via mobile retail."(1)

More importantly, consumer feedback enables retailers to get closer to the customer to understand who their most profitable and least profitable customers were, and what they wanted and/or purchased, to support the customization of future products, campaigns and offers that are relevant to each shopper.

Making Mobile Messaging Turnkey

Delivered via a partnership with mobile messaging provider Impact Mobile, Inc., Epicor Retail Mobile Marketing enables retailers to deliver customized messages, coupons, and promotions to mobile device users, and so much more. The solution can be used in house by retailers. Additionally, Epicor's CRM Services team of highly trained CRM professionals can assist retailers in creating, managing and launching mobile marketing campaigns via the Epicor Retail Mobile Marketing solution, to augment existing CRM initiatives, or as part of the turnkey execution and management of ongoing CRM campaigns.

Epicor customers using the Epicor Retail Mobile Marketing solution can gain cost and time efficiencies by leveraging Epicor's already established short code. Epicor experts can also assist retailers in complying with regulatory best practices and rules governing text messaging, and in maintaining opt-in lists, managing demographics, and helping define, monitor and launch text campaigns.

"We will be showcasing our Epicor Retail Mobile Marketing solution onsite throughout the show, and we invite NRF attendees to see how we're leading the charge in innovative, next-generation uses of text messaging to improve customer engagement, provide an interactive and experiential way to explore product offerings, easily share products with friends, and finally, enable retailers to benefit from capturing customer insight related to the overall experience. It's an approach that is truly ahead of the curve," said Tofteland.

Today, many of the world's leading retailers utilize Epicor Retail solutions and services to become more profitable, productive and competitive. Epicor's solutions work with the Microsoft .NET Framework to improve business operations and meet the evolving merchandise and service expectations of today's cross-channel shoppers. Epicor delivers comprehensive retail management solutions to enterprises in all tiers -- from regional chains to multichannel global brands. Retail customers include hundreds of marquee names, from Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, and Ann Taylor to Zales and Zumiez. Epicor employs more than 800 employees in retail-focused operations.

About Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor Software is a global leader delivering business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and services industries. With 20,000 customers in over 150 countries, Epicor provides integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and enterprise retail software solutions that enable companies to drive increased efficiency and improve profitability. Founded in 1984, Epicor takes pride in more than 25 years of technology innovation delivering business solutions that provide the scalability and flexibility businesses need to build competitive advantage. Epicor provides a comprehensive range of services with a single point of accountability that promotes rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership, whether operating business on a local, regional or global scale. The Company's worldwide headquarters are located in Irvine, California with offices and affiliates around the world. For more information, visit www.epicor.com.

Epicor is a registered trademark of Epicor Software Corporation. Other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. The product and service offerings depicted in this document are produced by Epicor Software Corporation.

(1) Source: Aberdeen Group "Mobile Retail is a Reality: The Increasing Mobility of Consumers Has Retailers Engaged," by Sahir Anand (Sept. 2010)

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