Press release:

Mobile Retail Commerce Rises While Social Shopping Drops in Second Quarter, Reports IBM

Consumers Buy More Per Online Transaction

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Armonk, N.Y. - 16 Jul 2012: Mobile shopping rose while social media sales fell, providing an indication of where US retailers may invest in order to capture the attention and loyalty of the digital consumer, according to a new report from IBM (NYSE: IBM). The IBM Retail Online Index, a cloud-based analysis of the online retail sector reported that retailers experienced 15 percent growth in sales from mobile devices but saw a 20 percent decline in sales traced to social media based on a much smaller base over this three-month period.

This report follows today’s news from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau which announced its estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales. According to the findings, retail sales fell 0.5 percent in June from May, the third straight month sales have been down from the month before. On a positive note, June 2012 sales were 3.8 percent above the pace of June 2011. 

The IBM Retail Online Index integrates factual marketplace data from its analytics offerings including the Benchmark with insights from the IBM Social Sentiment Index, an advanced analytics and natural language processing tool that analyzes large volumes of social media data to assess public opinions. The combination of these two offerings provides the most accurate and immediate snap shot on the state of the online retail market. 

IBM’s Retail Online Index identified several trends of importance to chief marketing officers (CMO), e-commerce leaders and customer service professionals. Over the second quarter consumers continued to embrace mobile devices as a shopping tool, with mobile commerce accounting for 15.1 percent of all online purchases, an increase of more than 14 percent. Despite this momentum retailers are still struggling to sustain substantial success with their social media efforts, evidenced by a more than 20 percent drop in social shopping.  

According to IBM’s State of Marketing 2012 survey, one explanation for social commerce’s failure may be the absence of a CMO and CIO alliance which is critical as marketing and online commerce become increasingly technology-driven. The lack of this alliance hinders the deployment of integrated technologies capable of fueling effective social media efforts. A second factor is marketing’s inability to form a clear consensus on how to utilize social channels. As a result, the retail online index saw a decline in positive sentiment around social media, which according to the online index dropped from 25.1 percent in Q1 to 18.6 percent in Q2. Leading factors for this shift were the lack of deals being offered by retailers through these channels, which were more prevalent in Q1. 

“Shoppers today are shifting from a singular online approach to a multi-channel experience that includes both mobile and social media. As a result, retailers must be prepared to connect with their customers on all fronts, or lose them to the competition,” said Craig Hayman, General Manager, IBM Industry Solutions. “As we enter the home stretch for the 2012 holiday season, we will continue to watch how CMOs and CIOs tackle these challenges and create social media efforts that deliver value to the customer while driving revenue for the business.” 

Over the second quarter, while online traffic and sales for Q2 were down 6.7 percent and 2.3 percent from Q1 respectively, there were signs of optimism. Specifically, for completed orders, shoppers bought more items (average items per order grew 2.6 percent) and spent more for each transaction (average order values for each purchase grew by 2.3 percent) over the second quarter. 

Part of IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative, the Retail Online Index draws data and insights from IBM's big data offerings to provide the industry’s most comprehensive look into the pulse of online retail through traditional and social media channels. The index analysis for second-quarter 2012 reveals the following trends:  

Online Retail Sales for Q2 2012 versus Q1 2012:

·     Consumer Spending: Total online sales for the quarter were down 2.3 percent over Q1 2012.

·     Average Order Value: The average value for each order in Q2 grew by 2.3 percent.

·     Items Per Order: The average number of items per order increased by 2.6 percent.

·     Page view Per Session: Page views per session dropped by 2 percent to 6.4 pages.

·     Mobile Sales: Sales from mobile devices reached 15.1 percent, up from the 13.3 percent in Q1 2012.

·     Mobile Devices: While Apple’s iPhone continued to rank one for mobile device retail traffic at 8.2 percent, Android surpassed the iPad which finished at 6.8 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.

·     Social Traffic: Shoppers referred from social networks generated 1.3 percent of all online traffic over Q2 2012, a slight increase from the 1.1 percent seen the previous quarter.

·     Social Sales: Shoppers referred to retailer sites from social networks generated 1.9 percent of all online sales over Q2 2012, a decrease from the 2.4 percent seen in Q1. 

Online Retail Categories for Q2 2012 versus Q1 2012:

·     Consumers further intensified their focus on the home with home goods sales growing by 35.3 percent in Q2.

·     Department stores continued to catch the attention of consumers with sales growing 3.7 percent

·     Jewelry stores maintained its upward track with sales growing by 1.4 percent.  

Consumer Sentiment for Department Stores for Q2 2012 versus Q1 2012 based on the IBM Social Sentiment Index:

·     Social Media:  A potential result of retailers failing to deliver compelling campaigns through these channels, positive sentiment around social media dropped by 6.5 percentage points, from 25.1 percent in Q1 to 18.6 percent in Q2.

·     Loyalty and Pricing: Where sales and clearing inventory were priorities in Q1, retailer prices returned to more normal rates in Q2, a shift that fueled negative sentiment around pricing which grew by 2.1 percentage points. These factors also impacted consumer loyalty where negative sentiment grew by 2.1 percentage points.  

IBM Retail Online Index

The IBM Retail Online Index features data from IBM's analytics offerings including the Benchmark and IBM Cognos Consumer Insight. The IBM Benchmark is the only analytics-based, peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including real-time sales data. All of the data is aggregated and anonymous. Analysis of public social media content came via IBM Cognos Consumer Insight which provides insight into underlying holiday shopping trends, hot topics of discussion and consumer sentiment. This index is combined with the IBM Social Sentiment Index to measure positive, negative and neutral sentiments shared in public forums such as Twitter, blogs, message boards and other social media, and provides quick insights into consumer conversations about issues, products and services. Follow the conversation at #bigdata #IBMIndex 

About IBM Smarter Commerce

IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative delivers software and services to help companies transform their business processes to more quickly respond to shifting customer demands in today's digitally transformed marketplace. The initiative is driven by the demands from organizations who are increasingly looking for ways to bring new levels of automation to marketing, sales and fulfillment to secure greater customer loyalty. The growth of mobile, social and online commerce are key trends within Smarter Commerce. 

Press release:

IBM Completes Acquisition of Tealeaf Technology

Qualitative Analytics Software Helps CMOs Deliver Streamlined Customer Experiences

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ARMONK, N.Y. - 13 Jun 2012: IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced it has completed its acquisition of Tealeaf Technology, Inc., a leading provider of digital customer experience management and customer behavior analysis solutions.

The acquisition extends IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative with qualitative analytics software that helps organizations deliver an optimal digital experience to their customers via the Web and mobile devices.

Tealeaf provides a full suite of customer experience management software, which analyzes interactions on websites and mobile devices. Through these insightful views, chief marketing officers (CMOs), e-commerce and customer service professionals can spot patterns and address issues in website and mobile application design, making marketing more of a welcomed service for consumers.

For example, a retailer may identify an issue where mobile coupons are not being recognized at check out in their online store. By quickly pinpointing the issue the retailer can resolve the issue and proactively engage those who may have abandoned their carts in order to maintain their loyalty to the brand.

“Businesses today are only as good as the online experience that they deliver to their customers. This includes mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets," said Craig Hayman, General Manager of Industry Solutions at IBM. "With IBM and Tealeaf, CMOs as well as e-commerce and customer service professionals will have the insights into the journey of each individual customer and the opportunity to quickly respond to their unique needs and ensure the best experience possible.”

IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative delivers software and services to help companies transform their business processes to more quickly respond to shifting customer demands in today's digital marketplace. Through this acquisition Tealeaf will be integrated into IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative, specifically, the Enterprise Marketing and Management (EMM) business, which serves CMOs and marketing professionals. Tealeaf employees will join IBM’s Software Group, a key driver of growth and profitability for the company. 

Press release:

IBM Helps C&A Build Multi-Channel Customer Sales Platform for Smarter Commerce

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Madrid - 23 May 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it will build a powerful, new multi-channel, eCommerce engine for C&A. In the future, C&A wants to make even better use of the upward trend in online apparel sales with double digit growth rates during the last years.

A newly designed Webshop, based on state-of-the-art technology to meet the latest requirements, and a new order management system—all based on IBM software—are being developed with IBM software, consulting and services. The new platform will be operated by IBM until 2017 and then handed over to C&A.

C&A operates in 20 European countries, with more than 37,500 employees working in over 1,500 fashion stores. Back in September 2008 the textiles company set up its first online shop in its home market Germany, followed in 2011 by online shops in Austria, France, and Poland.

In view of the growing importance of online business, which according to the market research company GfK grew by 18.4 percent in Germany last year alone, and of its own online business expansion plans, C&A decided to collaborate with IBM. It opted for IBM because of its integrated, one-stop shop approach to setting up and running a new platform for Smarter Commerce

Organizations and their Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) today are struggling to meet the demands of rapidly shifting buying patterns as customers increasingly turn to online, social, and mobile channels to gather information, make purchases, and receive services. This new digital marketplace requires companies to be highly responsive to their customers’ behaviors in order to both compete and grow.

IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative features software and services that help companies transform their business processes to more quickly respond to shifting customer demands in today's digitally transformed marketplace. The initiative is driven by organizations that are increasingly looking for ways to bring new levels of automation to marketing, sales and fulfillment to secure greater customer loyalty.

“With the new eCommerce platform C&A will be able to shape its online business the way it wants and to extend it across borders at any time,” said Bernhard Orth, partner in IBM’s business consulting organization Global Business Services. “IBM is taking over the operation of the platform and ensuring a swift and reliable implementation of our client’s entrepreneurial decisions.”

The new platform is based on IBM software: IBM WebSphere Commerce and IBM Sterling Order Management, which manages order processes intelligently across different distributed systems. IBM Global Business Services and IBM Business Partner NovoMind AG will jointly implement the new eCommerce platform in the weeks ahead. Furthermore, IBM will maintain the applications and host the infrastructure for the next five years.

This new, end-to-end, integrated solution will also lay the groundwork for a cross channel approach aimed at improved dovetailing of C&A’s physical stores and its digital Webshop. “The concept and technical opportunities provided by the new platform will make us faster, more agile and more efficient,” said Andreas G. Seitz, Spokesperson of the European Executive Board at C&A. “That will take us a decisive step closer to achieving our objective of implementing a modern multichannel strategy with end-to-end processes in physical and digital commerce.”

Another point in its favor is the high security standards that characterize all IBM solutions. In this industry, as in others, they are considered to be the eCommerce “gold standard” from which C&A Webshop customers will also benefit.

Important findings that will assist C&A in its transformation into a multichannel provider come from IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative. Smarter Commerce supports companies not only with the classic selling of products and services but also with the integration of different sales channels into a consistent multichannel strategy. It also enables them to identify and eliminate inefficient processes across the entire value chain and to develop or optimize business models.

About IBM Smarter Commerce

IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative delivers software and services to help companies transform their business processes to more quickly respond to shifting customer demands in today's digitally transformed marketplace. The initiative is driven by the demands from organizations who are increasingly looking for ways to bring new levels of automation to marketing, sales and fulfillment to secure greater customer loyalty. The growth of mobile, social and online commerce are key trends within Smarter Commerce.

Press release:

Kiddicare Increases Online Sales by 20 percent with IBM Smarter Commerce

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MADRID - 23 May 2012: At the Smarter Commerce Global Summit, IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced that Kiddicare is boosting online sales with IBM enterprise marketing solutions, which help chief marketing officers (CMO) engage customers in highly relevant, interactive dialogues across digital, social, mobile and traditional marketing channels. IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative has helped Kiddicare strengthen its focus on current customers and realize a 20 percent growth in online sales over just a four month period.

The leading online nursery and baby equipment supplier in the UK, Kiddicare’s success is the result of a plan to broaden its business focus beyond new customer acquisition. Specifically, the retailer looked to place more emphasis on driving repeat business, better customer retention and higher order values.

By adding IBM analytics software to its existing IBM e-commerce infrastructure, Kiddicare has been able to mine the large volume of data it collects, analyze customer behavior (e.g. How are customers shopping? Are they using computers, mobile devices or shopping at its physical location showroom) and personalize communications. With this business intelligence, Kiddicare has quickly identified new sources of revenue, created appropriate customer incentive initiatives and deployed more effective marketing and communications strategies; with each having a direct and immediate impact on online sales.

“We looked at the data in the business and the capital opportunities were very apparent,” said Simon Harrow, technology officer at Kiddicare. “Up to that point, only seven to eight percent of our business came from repeat customers, despite the fact that our analytics and satisfaction tracking said that 98 percent of our customers would recommend us. It felt counterintuitive to have a raving fan base, but no communications strategy post purchase.”

After just four months, the basket value analysis showed an increase of almost 50 percent in the number of items per order. Initiatives such as the introduction of new product ranges, including the ‘Most Popular Everyday Baby Essentials,’ featuring leading items from a portfolio of 650 products, has also led to an increase in repeat business versus one-off purchases. In addition to sales, these new insights have also helped Kiddicare understand the value of new initiatives as they modernize the site, introducing more video and extending the integration with social networking tools to drive conversion and value in sales.

Harrow added, “The value of the data derived from IBM goes beyond our enterprise content management system; it feeds into everything we do from kiosks, to web and email. This will continue as we venture into Android and iPad applications, newer kiosk development and a web site re-design.”

“Kiddicare’s success demonstrates the rewards of taking a customer-centric approach to communications and marketing,” said Andrew Jackson-Proes, IBM Enterprise Marketing Management Leader for UK & Ireland. “The company operates in a sector that provides multiple opportunities to assist each customer through the different stages of raising a family. By using data already available within its system to understand customer behavior and anticipate needs, Kiddicare has ensured a long-term and profitable relationship with its customers.” 

Press release:

IBM Smarter Commerce Helps Chief Marketing Officers Engage the Individual on Mobile and Social Media Channels

New Software and Services Enable Marketers to Deliver a Personalized Digital Customer Experience

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MADRID - 22 May 2012: At the Smarter Commerce Global Summit, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software and services to help chief marketing officers (CMO) deliver personalized digital experiences to individual customers on mobile devices and social media channels.

The growing focus on delivering personalized communications to consumers is being driven by the explosion of social media and mobile devices. Today, more than 1500 social media blog posts are generated every 60 seconds¹ and mobile commerce is poised reach $200 billion by 2015².

Building on this digital explosion, IBM is accelerating its Smarter Commerce initiative with new software and services that help marketers gain immediate intelligence on consumer shopping trends and quickly act on that information based on customer preference through marketing and promotion activities. 

For example, while one consumer may browse for merchandise from their mobile device that same consumer may tend to make more purchases from their tablet. Gaining the ability to act on this information will allow marketers to be more competitive while improving the customer experience.

Today, more than 2,500 customers worldwide, including 21 of the top 27 retailers are moving toward Smarter Commerce. IBM Smarter Commerce initiative delivers software and services that help companies, such as TalkTalk, Blue Chip Holiday and Roca Group, transform their business processes to meet the unique demands of each individual customer in today's digital marketplace. 

With the mobile devices expected to exceed desktop internet usage by 2014, IBM is introducing new software that gives businesses the ability to capture a customer’s device type and analyze how they are responding to campaigns on each. For example, a marketer may learn that a customer ignores messages on their smartphone but clicks through on campaigns when using their tablet. With this insight, marketers can develop, market and execute personalized digital campaigns that cater to a specific customer’s mobile and tablet experience.

The importance of personalizing the customer experience across channels was recently addressed by Kiddicare, the largest online nursery and baby supplier in the UK. Kiddicare was looking to deliver more relevant, interactive dialogues across digital, social, mobile and traditional marketing channels in order better serve its loyal customers.

“IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative is playing a significant role in helping our team gain better insights into our customers so we can more effectively meet each person’s needs and driverepeat purchases,” said Simon Harrow, technology officer at Kiddicare. “With IBM we are now able to analyze customer buying patterns including what devices they are using and then deliver highly relevant, interactive dialogues to each. Through these insights we have been able to drive a 20 percent increase in online sales over a period of just four months.”

For companies looking to capitalize on the business potential of mobile devices, IBM Global Business Services is introducing a new Mobile Strategy Accelerator to help companies adopt and build a roadmap to build stronger customer relationships through mobile devices. Companies can also leverage IBM WebSphere Commerce tools to quickly launch a mobile storefront that can be easily customized to their company. Once their storefront is live, these businesses can deliver customers a personalized site experience across smartphones and tablets.

“We are living in the mobile and social age, where consumers are turning to friends for product advice and their smartphone and tablet to make purchases,” said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM Industry Solutions. “As this momentum continues CMOs must trade in more traditional tactics in favor of smarter approaches that extend their personalization capabilities beyond the PC. It is this ability to deliver relevant deals across multiple channels that will transform these marketing efforts from an unwanted intrusion into a valued service.”

In addition to mobile, IBM also continues to address the needs of businesses looking to accelerate their social media efforts. According to IBM's CEO study announced today, 57 percent of CEOs are looking to use these platforms to connect with individuals within the next three to five years.

Through new features announced today, product marketers can balance current customer information with data from their public social media profile, such as their location and product interests. With this added insight, the team can create highly relevant promotions and deals and then post these on the recipient’s Facebook wall or forward directly through Twitter.

For more information on IBM Smarter Commerce, visit:http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_commerce/overview/

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Press release:

IBM Accelerates Business from Supply to Demand with New Cloud Offerings For Smarter Commerce

IBM Commerce on Cloud; First Enterprise e-Commerce Offering to Boost Marketing, Sales, Customer Service

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MADRID - 22 May 2012: At the Smarter Commerce Global Summit, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software designed to improve data sharing and automate complex marketing and supply chain processes in the cloud. As a result, marketers can improve customer service, increase marketing effectiveness and reduce operational costs. 

The new offerings leverage IBM’s Cloud expertise and cloud collaboration networks to accelerate the flow of business-to-consumer transactions by automating and synchronizing supply and demand engines. IBM manages massive amounts of data and client transactions in cloud environments, including more than $100 billion in commerce transactions a year and 4.5 million daily client transactions.  

Building on these extensive capabilities, IBM is introducing IBM Commerce on Cloud, the industry’s first integrated enterprise class e-commerce solution in the cloud that spans marketing, selling and fulfillment. Designed to help chief marketing officers (CMOs) and e-commerce executives quickly set up and maintain an on-line storefront, it also helps companies of all sizes deploy the same customer digital buying experience as the most advanced retail brands in the world.  

IBM Commerce on Cloud is an integrated platform for generating customer interest and then offering, selling, transacting and fulfilling orders in the cloud. It offers companies the benefits of cloud economies, such as low up front capital investment, pay-for-use models, and instant and ongoing scalability, to businesses of all sizes. While purchase motivations are different for B2B and B2C companies, their sales and marketing programs are becoming virtually identical.  

“Accelerating commerce on the Cloud is a dramatic step forward in enabling companies to transform their business operations,” said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM Industry Solutions. “Companies of all sizes can now deliver a better client experience by providing personalized marketing, selling the way customers want to buy, and delivering products through a supply chain that’s prepared for the unpredictable.” 

Smarter Commerce helps organizations that are struggling to meet the rising consumer demands brought upon by rapidly changing digital marketplace, automate their buying, marketing, selling and service processes.  

In addition to IBM Commerce on Cloud, IBM also has enhanced several of its on-cloud collaboration networks to accelerate collaboration and digital information sharing across demand and supply processes to offset the unpredictable nature of commerce.  

To improve retailer-consumer packaged goods collaboration and execution, IBM is introducing new pricing and trade promotion collaboration capabilities for DemandTec. This will allow a network of more than 15,000 members such as ConAgra Foods and PETCO to share information to improve merchandising and marketing plans, enabling better sales forecasts, lowering process inefficiencies and costs. 

To help companies more effectively collaborate on marketing activities, IBM is offering a new certified Digital Data Exchange Partner program which allows marketers to more effectively manage their marketing, promotions and customer behavioral analytics. Marketers can gain an integrated view of information being developed across ad networks, survey vendors, testing vendors, and email service providers to gain insights and better execute their marketing programs and services. The exchange also includes a “gold tag” approach designed to ensure that analytics and marketing partners are all operating off of the same, relevant data. 

With the Digital Data Exchange partner program, IBM is allowing retailers and third party digital marketing providers to relay behavioral data to analyze and enhance specific processes and improve the customer experience. The program supports new categories for visitor experience management, digital marketing, retargeting, voice of the consumer surveys and search marketing. For example, a major financial services firm could extend their digital marketing ecosystem of tools and solutions within minutes instead of days or weeks by adding online surveys to better understand their site visitors or their retargeting capabilities for a second chance at converting prospects, among other benefits.

To expedite supply chain processes, IBM is making it easier and faster to access, share and process information in real time, especially in emerging markets where growth rates are highest. IBM B2B Cloud Services is currently available across a community of 300,000 trading entities and more than 90 public and private networks, is now available in 34 new countries, including Australia, Brazil, India, New Zealand and all the Central and Eastern European countries.  

Stronger supply chain collaboration brings a host of benefits. Via a secure connections to IBM B2B Cloud Services, Lenovo built a unified foundation to connect and collaborate with a broad ecosystem of customers and partners. This capability enabled the company to cut annual costs by improving freight and inventory management, reduce time to onboard a partner and increase visibility into complex supply chain relationships.  

For more information on IBM Smarter Commerce, visit:http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_commerce/overview/. 

Commerce on Cloud Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK55XeZNKhk 

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U.S. Chamber Announces Partnership with Best Buy For Business for 2012 Small Business Summit

U.S. Chamber Announces Partnership with Best Buy For Business for 2012 Small Business Summit

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today announced the addition of Best Buy For Business as a Gold level sponsor for the 2012 America's Small Business Summit, set to take place May 21-23 in Washington, D.C.  Best Buy For Business has long championed the cause of small businesses by helping them use technology to succeed, and will continue in this tradition with sponsorship of the Tuesday Evening Reception at this year's Summit. "The U.S. Chamber is proud to partner with Best Buy For Business for this summit to support America's job creators," said Tom Collamore, senior vice president of communications and strategy and counselor to the president at the U.S. Chamber.  "Small businesses are critical to our nation's economic recovery, and the Chamber will continue to fight for the pro-growth policies that will help them succeed. We are pleased to have Best Buy For Business join us in this effort to equip small business owners with tools to help their businesses thrive." The 2012 America's Small Business Summit will bring together more than 700 small business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs from across the country to network, learn, and advocate for policies that support small business growth. "Best Buy For Business is proud to support America's small businesses," said Brian Hutto, vice president of Best Buy Services.  "We join the U.S. Chamber today in honoring small businesses across the country for putting Americans back to work." To learn more about America's Small Business Summit, visit www.uschambersummit.com. Best Buy For Business is a Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) services unit that provides business professionals with customized technology product and service solutions, personal assistance from account managers who are trained to address the needs of all types of businesses, and specialized technology set-up and installation services for mobile, computing and home theater products.  More information can be found at www.bestbuybusiness.com. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

SAP® Mobile Apps Connect Businesses and Consumers — from the Boardroom to the Shopping Center

SAP® Mobile Apps Connect Businesses and Consumers — from the Boardroom to the Shopping Center

May 14, 2012 | SAP -

B2E and B2C Mobile Apps from SAP and Expansive Partner Ecosystem Increase Worker Efficiency, Enhance Consumer Experience and Enable Commerce Transactions

ORLANDO, Fla. - Extending its commitment to drive mobile innovation from the enterprise to consumers, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced a new wave of mobile apps designed to help people be more efficient whether at work, at home or pursing leisure activities. With the help of a thriving partner ecosystem, the new SAP® mobile apps lay the foundation for growth by providing real-time mobile access to human resources (HR), sustainability, finance, sales and mobile commerce functions. This includes updated versions of existing SAP mobile apps available on more mobile platforms, including Android and RIM BlackBerry. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE® NOW, being held in Orlando, Florida, May 14-16, 2012.

Mobile apps are transforming devices into useful productivity tools that enable people to save time, whether they are entering travel expenses, meeting with a customer, investigating a potential safety hazard, treating a patient at his bedside or purchasing an out-of-stock item at their favorite store. Innovations from SAP and its partners make it possible for people to quickly access a wide range of simple mobile apps to help them make informed decisions, any time and from anywhere.

"SAP is following through on its commitment to deliver innovative, engaging mobile apps for millions of people," said Sanjay Poonen, president, head of Mobile Division, SAP. "With mobile serving as a major part of daily life, it is a top priority for most businesses that seek to simplify daily tasks for employees and their customers. SAP is leading the charge for businesses to run better with stunning, easy-to-use mobile apps that can manage and analyze today’s explosion of data—bringing business to people."

Mobilizing Work Tasks for Employees On the Go
Entering travel expenses is a necessary evil for many workers. Most travel and expense systems require an employee to log onto back-office systems from a computer. SAP is empowering mobile workers to easily enter expenses while on the road, freeing them from tedious re-entry at a later date. The SAP® Travel Expense Report mobile app allows business travelers to easily create expense reports from a mobile device. For example, users can save time by adding corporate credit card charges or quickly taking a photo of a receipt to submit expenses with a few clicks directly from a restaurant.

With the new SAP® Learning Assistant mobile app, SAP helps learners explore and consume learning content anywhere and anytime. The app accesses SAP® Learning Solution and allows learners to explore available learning content, manage course bookings and download and play e-learning content online in a range of formats right from their iPads. Learners can view personal notifications for expiring and required qualifications, as well as the recommended courses to fulfill them on time. Employees who to consume learning content off-site can now do so quickly and easily even in unconnected mode.

For sales executives the SAP® Customer Briefing mobile app provides a real-time dashboard to help prepare them for customer interactions. This allows immediate access to critical client data in an easily consumable format. The app provides real-time visibility to internal customer relationship management (CRM) data, as well as external business, and news sources, while on the road. Sales professionals can easily view customer information in a visual format, helping ensure they are exceptionally well prepared for every customer meeting.

Companies focused on improving safety will have faster visibility to problems with the SAP® EHS Safety Issue mobile app. Workers can log issues from their mobile device with a photo or video, as well as an audio recording, and send it directly to an incident or safety manager for corrective action. The app makes it easy for everyone to participate in creating a safer, more sustainable work environment and proactively reduce operational risks.

Bringing Mobile Commerce to Consumers and Businesses
With billions of mobile apps downloaded to date and hundreds of millions of mobile commerce users worldwide, what people do with their mobile devices is changing. SAP is supporting this monumental shift through its award-winning mobile customer engagement and commerce platform for banking, telecommunications, utilities, retail and consumer packaged goods. The mobile commerce portfolio from Sybase 365 has already been widely deployed by banks and mobile operators for mobile banking, mobile payments and mobile money services in both developed and emerging markets. This mobile commerce portfolio from Sybase 365 is a key component of the industry-leading SAP mobile platform for powering highly productive business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) mobile apps and services, including:

• Sybase 365 Mobile Banking, which enables subscribers to pay, buy, bank and remit money with any mobile device. It allows an end user to use his mobile phone as a micro bank, performing all banking tasks where instant information is important, such as inquiring about account balances, configuring notifications to receive account activity, paying bills, person-to-person (P2P) money transfers and applying for new products. This solution is available in retail, small to midsize business and corporate mobile banking editions.
• Sybase 365 Mobile Payments, which enables people to leverage a mobile wallet solution to pay bills and loans, make domestic P2P payments to known and unknown beneficiaries, remit money, top-up and pay for goods and services. The solution includes all the tools and services for managing merchants and for emerging markets managing agent networks.
• Sybase 365 Mobile Money, which enables financial institutions to offer a branchless financial inclusion service that allows them to offer financial products to un-banked and under-banked customer segments in a highly cost-effective manner, entirely through the mobile device. For the end user, mobile money supports money transfers, balance inquiries, bill payments, cash in/cash out via agents and self-service machines, as well as micro-payments and loan repayments. For bank agents, it offers a full suite of customer enrollment, KYC (Know Your Customer) details, reports, fee tracking and much more.

Numerous leading financial institutions and mobile operators, including Dutch Bangla-Bank, First Tennessee Bank and Telefónica, are providing their customers with live mobile commerce apps and services built on top of the Sybase 365 mobile commerce portfolio.

Mobilizing Across Industries 
SAP is extending the value of key systems of record by mobilizing business processes across healthcare, insurance and retail industries:

• Retail shoppers and employees can benefit from the SAP® In-Store Product Lookup mobile app, which creates a new experience for retail shoppers and employees by helping store managers and associates on the floor better assist customers. For example, store employees can locate the availability of an item with current stock information in real-time, eliminating the need for shoppers to wait at the checkout counter. The app also displays product details and stock levels both in-store and in nearby stores, as well as the ability to adjust inventory.
• Insurance companies can improve customer service with the SAP® Policyholder Lookup mobile app, which allows insurance sales agents to access policy and claim details of policyholders anywhere and anytime. The app provides increased sales insight and service with up-to-date customer information, decreasing call volume for claim status and policy coverage.

SAP® Store and Mobile App Ecosystem Growth 
SAP offers a carefully curated mobile platform and enterprise application portfolio designed to expand and accelerate any business' ability to run better with mobile. With the introduction of more than 70 apps from SAP and its partners, SAP continues to expand a network of industry-leading developers, with companies such as Advent Global and Principal Consulting making it possible for complex mobile solutions to become a simple reality.

Advent Global's Go Sell mobile app is a comprehensive sales force automation app that enables sales professionals to be connected and sell on the go. With instant access to their handheld devices, sales professionals can log calls, respond to hot leads, and access vital information such as opportunities and dashboards across the complete order-to-cash process wherever they are. The app not only saves precious time, but also eliminates the process overhead of carrying physical reports/forms and dependency on sales office for real-time information. The app runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices and utilizes data from the SAP® ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) component and SAP® CRM application.

The Principal Consulting Group successfully runs an app called the Project Manager, which allows users to effectively manage their projects while out of the office. The app provides customers with a complete end-to-end project management functionality including: the ability to review and update projects, review work-breakdown-structures, coordinate team members and project assignments, capture time for project tasks to be completed and review dashboards and critical KPIs. The app saves time and cost, while providing all the information needed for a project manager to run the task on time and on budget. The app is available for all major mobile devices.

An HTML5 version of SAP Store for iPad and tablets is now available, delivering a dynamic user experience. New versions of SAP Store native mobile application for iOS ("SAP Mobile Apps" in iTunes) and Android ("SAP Store" in Google Play Store) platforms have also been made available for an end-to-end buying process for mobile solutions, including credit card enablement for payment.

Expanding SAP Mobile Apps Across Platforms
SAP is continuing to evolve and build the mobile app ecosystem with updated features and expanded platform availability to existing apps, including:

• SAP® Customer Financial Fact Sheet mobile app, allowing sales representatives or account executives to check the system financial status of their customers anywhere and anytime, is now available on iPad and Android 2.2 or later.
• SAP® Payment Approvals mobile app, helping ensure the liquidity of a company by approving payments anywhere and anytime, is now available on Android 2.2 or later.
• SAP® Electronic Medical Record mobile app, putting critical patient information in the hands of doctors, providing them with instant access to the electronic medical records at a patient’s bedside, is now available on Android 3.2 and iPhone.
• SAP® GRC Policy Survey mobile app, allowing employees to receive, complete and submit governance, risk and compliance (GRC) policy surveys, quizzes and acknowledgements, is now available on iPad.

For a closer look, see: "Screenshots: SAP Mobile Apps Connect Businesses and Consumers." For announcements, blog posts, videos and other coverage during SAPPHIRE NOW, visit the Events Newsroom.

SAPPHIRE® NOW
With SAPPHIRE® NOW, SAP offers its customers, partners and prospects even more opportunities to engage in dialogue with peers, participants and thought leaders around the globe. Being held in Orlando, Florida, May 14-16, 2012, this enhanced, real-time event connects attendees on site with global participants through state-of-the-art broadcast studios and an online experience that incorporates the latest social media and community functionality. Whether on site or online, participants can gain insight as to how SAP is delivering on its product strategy and helping organizations around the world to run better. For more information, visit www.sapphirenow.com. Follow SAPPHIRE NOW on Twitter at @SAPPHIRENOW and visit the Events Newsroom atwww.events.news-sap.com.

Note to Editors:
Webcasts, announcements, media roundtables, keynote presentations and blog posts from SAPPHIRE NOW will be available in the Events Newsroom at: www.events.news-sap.com. To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high-resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit www.sap-tv.com. From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links and subscribe to RSS feeds from SAP TV. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 190,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of SuccessFactors) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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