ERP AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN RETAILING

Today, companies are in the new age of competition than they were in the past. To survive and succeed in the global market, they must focus on ERP system and its applications in the day-to-day business operations for achieving competitive edge over their competitors. ERP systems are large, sophisticated software programs used for identifying and planning the enterprise-wide resources needed to coordinate all activities involved in producing and delivering products to customers. ERP lies at the heart of any organization by cutting across all of its different functional areas, business units, geographic regions, and product lines. Today, all service and manufacturing sectors use ERP systems. In the modern era of business, the retail sector has received a red carpet welcome from consuming community of the society. A retail ERP system uses a central database that holds all the data relating to the various system modules of retail industry. In order to achieve a seamless integration, an ERP system uses multiple hardware and software components. ERP packages are heavily used by larger retail chains. Designed to facilitate the administration and optimization of internal business processes across an enterprise, ERP packages have become the competitive tool for most large retail organizations. An ERP software uses a single database that allows the different departments to communicate with each other through information sharing. ERP systems comprise function-specific components that are designed to interact with the other modules such as the Order Entry, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Purchasing, Distribution etc. This article throws a light on the implications of ERP in the retail industry and the challenges faced by the retail sectors in the effective implementation of the ERP software. It presents the competitive benefits that the retail industry can enjoy from using ERP system in the retail business. This article also puts a narrow focus on top four leading ERP solution providers such as SAP, Oracle, Sage Group and Microsoft Dynamics and their competitive applicability