Press Release

7thOnline Releases Optimization Solutions to Drive More Productive Store Assortments

New York, NY, May 18, 2006 - 7thOnline, the premier provider of merchandise and assortment planning solutions to the apparel, footwear, and accessories community, announced today the release of enhanced optimization functionality that enables clients to execute more profitable product assortments by store location.

In assortment planning, retailers are challenged to identify the appropriate mix of styles, colors and sizes for each store that will contribute the most to their bottom line.  Though they are able to gather a wealth of customer data and POS information, inadequate systems limit their ability to effectively leverage this data for SKU and location level assortment planning and execution.

With 7thOnline, retailers can be confident that they are investing in a merchandise mix for each store that maximizes profit potential.  Based on historical performance, customer data, and strategic objectives, the system generates the optimal number of SKUs to meet local demand while incorporating the necessary constraints.  All relevant parties, including management, merchandise planners, and buyers, can access these optimization tools and related analyses in real-time.  Accordingly, all users are on the same page and are better equipped to make the best possible business decisions.

"Our goal is to provide our clients with a complete set of tools that will leverage all of the elements of the planning process and will ultimately enable them to drive the most value out of their assortments.  As such, our optimization solutions are a natural progression for 7thOnline," stated Max Ma, Chief Executive Officer.  "SKU productivity cannot be executed through art alone; planners and buyers need to have the appropriate tools to also deploy a scientific approach to assortment planning." 

About 7thOnline -- 7thOnline provides comprehensive merchandise and assortment planning solutions targeted to the global apparel, footwear, and accessories community.  7thOnline's on-demand solution suite encompasses visual and quantitative top-down and bottom-up assortment planning tools, powerful analytical and optimization engines, and automatic order transmission capabilities in multiple formats.  Customer results include higher sell-thru and lower markdowns through better assortments at the door level, better inventory matching due to earlier supply/demand visibility, shorter cycle times due to the streamlined process, and reduced operational costs resulting from significantly reduced administrative tasks and error rates.