Melbourne, March 2007: Outdoor equipment and apparel retailer Kathmandu has selected Pronto Software to implement its flagship ERP solution, PRONTO-Xi, throughout its store network to support its national and international retail growth strategy.   

With more than 50 stores throughout Australia, New Zealand and the UK, Kathmandu has aggressive plans under new shareholders Goldman Sachs JB Were and Quadrant to grow the company’s retail network to over 80 stores in the next three years.

After an extensive review process, Kathmandu selected PRONTO-Xi to overhaul their point of sale and back office retail operations.

“Basically we had outgrown the current system”, said Group Information Systems Manager at Kathmandu, Bryan Moore. “It lacked the functionality to help us further grow the business. There were shortfalls in our CRM and promotion management, and combined with an overall lack of integration, it was time to consider an improved solution.”

Moore said PRONTO-Xi’s retail capabilities, including real-time POS and inventory transaction processing, were key features which would significantly improve Kathmandu’s customer service and cost management.

“It gives us much greater pricing flexibility, with pricing and promotional management allowing us to sell the right product at the right price to our customers,” Moore said.

During the tender process, Pronto Software also demonstrated PRONTO-Xi’s CRM and newly added Alert Intelligence tools, which according to Moore, highlighted the potential to deliver wider business benefits.

As Moore explained: “As we grow we’re adopting a ‘management by exception’ style, where we can be alerted to and manage specific business situations across the company in a timely manner. Alert Intelligence will definitely support this change.”

“For example, if there is a stock outage, we can be alerted to it straight away via an email with a hyperlink to the stock details. Alert Intelligence can also instantly notify staff as they serve a Summit Club member whose next purchase qualifies them for a reward, which is the type of business and customer advantage that PRONTO-Xi can deliver,” Moore said.

In addition to PRONTO-Xi’s deep functionality, Moore noted that Kathmandu saw the two companies as a good cultural fit and able to offer mutually strategic advantages.

“Pronto demonstrated they were the right people to partner with to support our growth. Our businesses are similar in terms of our down to earth attitude and customer focus. We saw that we could also influence areas of Pronto’s business where they wanted to grow, including their focus on the retail sector and the Alert Intelligence capability.

Pronto Software Managing Director, David Jackman, is excited to partner with Kathmandu. “Running a successful retail operation is demanding and challenging. Retailers are increasingly tailoring their IT strategy to deliver more innovative and cost-effective services to the business, and we are pleased to be able to assist Kathmandu in this.”

Moore said, “PRONTO-Xi is an enablement technology for our planned retail and operational expansion, strong sales growth, and even greater levels of customer service. We are very pleased to have them as a long term business partner.”