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Last week, we talked about the need to acknowledge and react to a tsunami of change in the world of retailing. Consumer technology is changing and improving far faster than retailers’. It’s time to catch up. In this context, RedPrairie’s acquisition of Escalate Retail promises to provide one way to get a leg up on that change. Of course, the devil is in the details, and there are a LOT of existing Escalate Retail customers (legacy GERS and Ecometry clients), so we asked some questions of Escalate executives and thought we’d provide some answers and guidance here for those customers and others who might be wondering about the direction the product portfolio will take.

Big Ticket (Legacy GERS Clients):

RedPrairie is committed to the Furniture space. That’s one of the very reasons they were interested in the Escalate transaction. RedPrairie already has a large footprint in furniture and the two companies have numerous joint customers in the market. There is great optimism that significant value can be gained from the combination of the two companies. Combining Enterprise1, COEM and FurnishNet from Escalate with RedPrairie’s WMS, Fleet Management Solution for Home Delivery, Supply Chain, and Workforce Management solutions creates a very compelling solution, and the company is already evaluating ways to take advantage of the opportunity inherent for joint clients. The goal is to create combined offerings that benefit the entire Big Ticket client base. Expect an updated product roadmap finalized and ready for external consumption in 60 days.

Legacy Ecometry Clients:

RedPrairie believes the acquisition of Escalate represents significant opportunities for the user of the Ecometry Commerce Suite. There are plans to integrate Ecometry into the broader RedPrairie suite. The RedPrairie/Ecometry combination will give Ecometry the scale to expand its market appeal up and down-market and thus serve a much wider audience. Ecometry will significantly augment both its flagship WMS product as well as its on-demand WMS solutions to create more compelling offerings to a larger audience of users. .The product has a full 2011 release calendar, with a functionality release slated for May 2011 and a technology update planned for August 2011. Product Management and Strategy Executives are already developing integration plans and plan to finalize a roadmap in 60 days.

Personnel:

Escalate intends to retain nearly everyone in a field-facing position to minimize disruption, and further enhance RedPrairie’s retail expertise.

The Bottom Line

RedPrairie is putting together an interesting suite of solutions, certainly expanding out from the supply chain. Over the long haul, this is very good news for existing Escalate Retail and RedPrairie customers and for others who have found a way to get their CMO, Chief Merchant and Supply Chain managers talking the same language.The company’s vision is to Transform the Customer Experience in retail with its technology enablers. Certainly work lies ahead to integrate the various and sundry products RedPrairie has purchased, but corporate ownership has both deep pockets and patience. Thus far, response from existing Escalate clients has been positive.