GERS Acquires Escalate, Inc. to Expand Multi-Channel Capabilities and Enhance the Customer Experience

Furniture World Magazine

GERS Retail Systems, a leading provider of real-time, closed-loop retail management solutions, today announced that they have acquired Escalate, Inc., a leading provider of complete multi-channel commerce and fulfillment solutions for the retail industry. Escalate solutions provide a seamless shopping experience across all selling channels, making it simple to manage orders from every channel; to pick, pack, and ship orders from any location (store, warehouse, or directly from a vendor); and to maintain very high levels of customer service at every point of interaction. The Escalate product suite will augment GERS’ Blueprint for Retail Excellence by enhancing the customer experience throughout the entire order life cycle – from seamless order entry and order management to complete coordination and management of the fulfillment process, including seamless integration with vendors for up-to-the-minute status visibility throughout the supply chain. “Success in retail is about developing meaningful, sustainable relationships with your customers at every point of interaction—store, web, and catalog—and being able to fulfill product to those customers’ expectations regardless of channel,” said John Sailer, Vice President of Strategy and Solutions for GERS Retail Systems. “The GERS Blueprint for Retail Excellence addresses these needs through the key capabilities of ‘One-Number’ Planning, true multi-channel In-Season Excellence, and Supply Chain Synchronization. The addition of the Escalate solutions strengthens our Blueprint, enabling us to bring true multi-channel capabilities to the retail industry.” Escalate has consistently delivered value to their customer base—a collection of industry leaders  that have achieved sales excellence through effective execution of visionary, integrated multi-channel strategies. These retailers include Eddie Bauer, Williams-Sonoma, Restoration Hardware, and The Home Depot Canada. The addition of these blue-chip companies to the GERS client roster validates and strengthens GERS’ commitment to the general merchandise markets. “Our commitment to the retail industry is to continue to deliver solutions which drive unparalleled value,” said Jim Henderson, President and CEO of GERS Retail Systems. “Our customers are among the best run and most profitable retailers across all retail segments. It is their needs and expectations which drive our solution footprint.” According to Michael Ker, CEO of Escalate, “By combining our products, retailers will benefit their customers by presenting a central, unified point of service, whether that customer is shopping online, ordering via the telephone, or purchasing in the store. The combination of GERS and Escalate is not only an excellent product fit, but will sharpen our focus on helping retailers improve their business results.” About GERS Retail Systems: GERS Retail Systems is a leading supplier of software solutions that empower decision makers to make the right decisions right now. By facilitating the real-time flow of transactions and information across the entire retail organization, our solutions enable retailers to consistently anticipate, understand, and fulfill their customers’ expectations for products that are priced, located, and timed to meet consumer demands in every selling season. GERS solutions manage the merchandising life cycle, multi-channel selling, planning, business intelligence, and supply chain synchronization to create a great customer experience. For more information, please visit www.gers.com.