Accenture plc (ACN) recently announced that it has successfully implemented a pilot program for digital merchandising into Mellin SpA’s IT eco system. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mellin SpA is the Italian arm of France-based Danone Group engaged in the food industry. Danone Group markets various consumables such as fresh milk products, water, child nutrition and clinical nutrition products. Mellin SpA deals with child nutrition products and markets them under the brand name “Mellin.”
Stiff competition in the retail world is behind the evolution of digital merchandising. Digital merchandising saves time for marketing professionals and helps in showcasing any newly launched product via electrical gadgets, thus attracting customers easily. Retailers are also being able to make point-of-sale activities faster, while increasing product sales.
With Accenture’s Digital Merchandising pilot program, Mellin SpA will now be able to boost in-store operations and sales performance. Mellin has already deployed the digital merchandise service in 100 stores across Italy.
Accenture’s digital merchandise service is a part of its Managed Services. These services help customers formulate right business strategies, reduce operating costs, increase productivity and focus on mission-critical responsibilities. The popularity of this digital merchandise service was also felt by Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), which opted for the service to improve its point-of-sale activities in April 2011. The ace brewer was also facilitated with easy access to data regarding available and stale products.
Accenture’s deal prospects look bright. Moreover, the company’s endeavor to expand in Asia is also encouraging. With the west facing threats of a double-dip, all eyes are now turned toward Asia. With the continuous emergence of hi-tech innovations there, Accenture could ink deals in technology services, as well as outsourcing and consulting services. But increasing competition from IBM Corp. (IBM), a strained spending environment and its broad European exposure may temper growth to some extent.
Currently, Accenture has a short-term Hold recommendation, denoted by the Zacks #3 Rank.
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