TradeStone Announces Acquisition of Leap Ahead Solutions Mobile Application for Range Management

TradeStone Software has acquired substantially all of the assets of Leap Ahead Solutions, a UK based company. Leap Ahead’s mobile application, Retail Buyer, enables buyers to pictorially track samples, manage ranges and calculate landed costs during buying trips and early in the lifecycle of each range period.

Leap Ahead Solutions was designed by founder Alan Osborne and Nikki Willis, former executives from New Look, a British fashion retailer. Several major UK retailers, including All Saints, are already in pilot.

TradeStone’s CEO, Sue Welch, and her team were impressed by the design and ease of adoption of the mobile app, which TradeStone will sell and market as TradeStone’s Mobile Merchant. “It fits perfectly between TradeStone’s Merchandise Lifecycle solutions and TradeStone’s online marketplace, Bamboo Rose,” said Welch. “Merchants and buyers love the way it supports their buying operation and revolutionizes the way range buys are assembled over multiple buying trips and throughout the season.”

The app will be used as a mobile workbench for buyers. Some of the benefits include:

  • Transparency: Buyers are able to see their range in one place and track what stage each item is at in real time. The head of buying feature will enable gaps in the ranges to be spotted at early stages.
  • Efficiency: Buyers will see a reduction in time spent in range planning meetings and order lead times will be reduced as product can now be worked on while buying trips are still occurring.
  • Accuracy: Simple landed costs calculations will help guide buyers as they negotiate prices while in supplier showrooms and on market visits. The target margin/target cost price feature will enable fine tuning of price or product engineering, maximizing profit.
  • Mobility: Buyers can use the app from anywhere with their iPad, which will improve productivity while travelling.
  • Collaboration: Range plans and information can be shared with other functions such as merchandising, retail operations, franchise partners, and more.

TradeStone Software helps retailers, brand manufacturers and suppliers increase market share and improve margins through the use of Merchandise Lifecycle Management solutions that unify the design, sourcing, ordering and delivery of their private label and branded goods. Organizations including American Eagle Outfitters, Belk, Boots, Family Dollar, Groupe Dynamite, Guitar Center, Kohl’s, Le Chateau, Macy’s, NBrown Catalog Company, Pacific Sunwear, Shoprite and Urban Outfitters use TradeStone’s solutions to help them bring innovative and highly profitable products to market at record speeds

TradeStone Software is headquartered in Gloucester, Mass., with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Bangalore, Hong Kong and London. More information can be found on the Web at www.tradestonesoftware.com and/or visit us on LinkedInFacebook and Twitter.

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