Lawson Software Unveils New Solutions To Address Unique Challenges Of The Retail Industry

"Faced with intense competition and tough economic times, retailers need consistent, accurate analysis of key metrics to enable faster, more confident business decisions," said Carol Mackenzie, retail market director, Lawson. "Retail Comp Store Metrics and Store Operations go to the heart of understanding the financial and operational health of a retail enterprise with automated ordering, forecasting, inventory control, and analysis of vital information to improve net profitability and increase revenues. Additionally, Lawson Enterprise Integration compliments our offerings by providing access to critical information from disparate systems enabling retailers to save money and reduce costs."

Retail Comp Store Metrics and Store Operations further expand Lawson's Retail solution that encompasses store operations, supply chain, merchandising, human resources, marketing, financials, analytics and distribution. 

Lawson Store Operations supports the managers and employees through automated forecasting, advanced replenishment, inventory control and analysis. An integral part of Lawson Retail Operations, this solution enables accurate inventory visibility to anticipate rather than react to fluctuations in inventory levels on the store shelf.

Lawson Comp Store Metrics Data Mart has mission-critical retail functionality and logic built into the analytic engine with world-class business intelligence that automates the comp store reporting and analysis process. This is an industry-leading approach to the long-standing pain around comp store reporting based upon flexible attributes instead of the rigid algorithms of competitive products.

Lawson's advanced retail analytics is helping improve store profitability at La Madeleine, a 62-unit chain of French-themed bakery/café/bistros from Washington D.C. to Phoenix. "We are very impressed with the power and flexibility of Lawson's integrated Analytics," said Bill Schaffler, La Madeleine's senior director of finance. "With these solutions, we are easily able to manage multiple budgets and forecasts from a central OLAP database. The restaurant business is always changing and thus we need accurate and timely information delivered to operations, allowing them to take action quickly. The addition of Lawson's Comp Metrics functionality, together with interactive web access through Lawson's Scorecard product gives La Madeleine a completely integrated solution to manage our store level profitability. Lawson has proven to be

knowledgeable about the retail business and a trusted partner to help lay the foundation for La Madeleine's next phase of growth."

Lawson Store Operations
Lawson Store Operations helps retail organisations increase net profitability and workforce productivity by:
· Forecasting demand to consistently fulfill the needs of customers
· Maintaining highly accurate inventory counts through an exception-based algorithm
· Speeding the ordering process by enabling retailers to efficiently review and approve orders on an exception basis

Lawson Retail Comp Store Metrics Data Mart
Lawson Retail Comp Store Metrics Data Mart offers a clear advantage over manual, spreadsheet-based and other traditional tools for gathering and analysing comp store data by:

· Ensuring that all users are working with identical data and leverage uniform comp store calculations that lead to high confidence in the analysis and better, faster business decisions

· Extending the functionality and value of current enterprise solutions, including Lawson Enterprise Performance Management and Strategic Ledger

· Adapting to the methodology a retailer uses to calculate comp store metrics, thereby lowering total cost of ownership by allowing analysts flexibility to change comp calculations, as well as create and modify views and reports, without IT staff involvement

· Providing busy managers with visual tools, such as traffic lighting, alerts, graphs and key performance indicators, to manage by exception and take prompt action on the issues with the biggest impacts to the business and driving profitability

Lawson Enterprise Integration
Lawson Enterprise Integration provides easy access to information from disparate systems enabling retailers to make more informed business decisions providing improved customer service, lower maintenance costs, improved ROI on previous investments and a lower total cost of ownership by: 

· Enabling retailers to standardise their enterprise integration platforms
· Leveraging past investments on existing platforms
· Utilising open standards, easing future upgrades

About Lawson Software
Lawson Software provides business process software solutions that help services organisations in the healthcare, retail, professional services, public sector, financial services and other strategic markets achieve competitive advantage. Lawson's solutions include enterprise performance management, distribution, financials, human resources, procurement, merchandising and services automation. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Lawson has offices and affiliates serving North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Additional information about Lawson is available at www.lawson.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements contain statements of intent, belief or current expectations of Lawson Software, Inc., and its management. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company is not obligated to update forward-looking statements based on circumstances or events which occur in the future. In addition to factors discussed above, risks and uncertainties that may cause such differences include but are not limited to: a decline in general economic conditions; uncertainties in the software industry; global military conflicts; terrorist attacks in the United States, and any future events in response to these developments; changes in conditions in the company's targeted service industries; increased competition and other risk factors listed in the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and as included in other documents the company files from time to time with the Commission.