Press Release

7thOnline Announces New Top-Down Planning Module for Retailers

NEW YORK, 11/30/05 - 7thOnline, the premier provider of merchandise and assortment planning solutions for the apparel, accessories, and footwear community, announced today the availability of a new retailer-centric merchandise planning module.  This powerful new top-down planning functionality is specifically tailored to the business planning requirements of department stores and specialty retailers.  Combined with 7thOnline's existing bottom-up assortment planning applications, the new module provides retailers with a full suite of industry-specific assortment planning solutions.  This addition solidifies 7thOnline's leadership position in the delivery of web-centric merchandising applications to fashion retailers.

7thOnline identified the opportunity to expand its reach by working closely with the Company's existing retail users.  Many multi-door retailers have implemented financial planning systems, but they rely on highly manual, spreadsheet-based systems to carry out the next stage of merchandise assortment planning.  With 7thOnline TOP DOWN PLANNER, retailers can implement a streamlined and integrated planning process, from financial planning through order placement.  Users can create store-level classification and unit plans that are in line with corporate financial objectives. The solution results in more productive store-level assortments, significantly reduced administrative work and error rates, and increased management visibility throughout the merchandise planning process for more informed decision-making. 

" The development of our new top-down planning module underscores our commitment to deliver a 360-degree suite of solutions that meets the specific requirements of the apparel, accessories, and footwear community.  As is consistent with our philosophy, we developed these solutions by working closely with our retail community to understand their requirements, their vision and the direction of technology initiatives in the industry.  This approach enables us to deliver best-in-class solutions that are ahead of the curve, and our Fortune 500 retail community continues to enjoy higher profits due to better store assortments, enhanced visibility, better inventory management and ultimately higher sales,"  stated Max Ma, Chief Executive Officer.

About 7thOnline -- 7thOnline provides comprehensive merchandise and assortment planning solutions targeted to the unique planning, buying and ordering processes of the global apparel, footwear, and accessories community.  7thOnline's web-centric 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.  7thOnline's collaborative capabilities enable real-time sharing of key business information, both internally between colleagues and externally with trading partners, resulting in better-matched supply and demand.  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.