Seacom, NCR Corp join hands to service retail industry in India

Mumbai: Seacom Solutions India, the country''s No 1 total retail solutions company, has signed an agreement with NCR Corporation (www.ncr.com), the world''s leading provider of financial self-service solutions.

Already well established in India with a majority market share in ATM, NCR will use its existing infrastructure to service the retail industry. With this intention, NCR has identified Seacom as the most suitable partner, based on Seacom''s experience, domain skills, and market presence. While NCR intends to focus on the emerging petroleum retailing segment, they will address the hard-core retail segment through Seacom.

Says NCR Corporation marketing manager (Southeast Asia) Robert Sesse: "The complementary mix between the Seacom range of software products and the NCR range of hardware will ensure substantial value addition to both businesses."

Says Seacom CEO and managing director Ajay Aggarwal: "So far Seacom has offered solutions based on our product suite SmartShop, and tailor-made solutions using our domain skills to large and medium retailers. We will now be able to offer comprehensive solutions with both hardware and software put together, which most customers will prefer."

In this relationship, Seacom will handle the first level of service, supported by NCR infrastructure through 46 service centres across the country. Seacom will initially offer the services directly to customers, but intends to soon develop a channel for the products to get a larger market share.

Seacom is a software solutions company with a key focus in two areas: IT solutions for retail environments, and IBM i-Series (AS/400) application development. Seacom provides consulting, development, implementation, and support services in retail, which enable clients to maximise profitability, optimise inventory, and gain competitive advantage as per their individual business models.

Seacom is developing customised solutions for clients in the UK, the US, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Kuwait and Oman. In India, Seacom''s clients include the country''s best-known retailers such as Trent, the RPG group, and Pantaloons.

Seacom''s considerable experience and expertise in the field of retail, in food and grocery, consumer durables, lifestyle, pharmacy, and automobile retailing, under various formats enables it to give guidance to clients on issues such as supply chain, point of sale, pricing and promotions, category management, loyalty programmes, and merchandise management.

Seacom''s consulting division uses its proficiency in retail to provide specific solutions to business needs in areas such as process analysis, system design, solution implementation and training needs.