Carrefour Systems Executive to Keynote 2nd Annual Global Retail Technology Forum.

Business/Technology Editors

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 2000

Jeremy Hollows, Chief Information Officer at Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, will deliver the opening keynote on "Building a Retail Internet Exchange" at the Global Retail Technology Forum 2001 at the Okura Amsterdam Hotel scheduled for March 13-15.

Hollows will discuss why this 80 billion Euro retailer participated in the founding and launch of the GlobalNetXchange with other major retailers. He will discuss how Carrefour is utilizing the exchange to simplify global sourcing and relationships with key suppliers in its many markets including Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Hollows will explain how Carrefour is using the GlobalNetExchange to drive change among its business, systems and logistics departments. In addition, he will discuss how the demands of the Internet economy have altered how Carrefour conceives and implements large scale systems improvements throughout its chain of 680 hypermarkets, 2 260 supermarkets and 5,400 deep discount and convenience stores.

Other confirmed speakers include:

Ted Dellavecchia, CIO, Starbucks Coffee Company, USA;

Dan Bernard, Systems/Logistics Director, B&Q Plc/Kingfisher, United Kingdom;

Ulrich Henke, Director, Point of Information Development, dm-drogerie markt, Germany;

Andrew Dorward, Director of Personlization, BOL Global Inc., Germany;

Masahiko Ohtaka, General Manager, Daiei, Japan;

Jean-Francois Bourgeois, CIO, FNAC, France; and

Peter Rieder, IT Infrastructure Manager, Migros Genossenschafts Bund, Switzerland.

The event will begin on Tuesday, March 13 with a series of full-day pre-show seminars focusing on merchandise planning, CPFR, customer-centric systems, and other relevant retail IT issues.

On Wednesday and Thursday, March 14 and 15, the Global Retail Technology Forum 2001 will offer two days of conference sessions and an exposition focused on information technology and Internet solutions to meet growing customer expectations worldwide. The conference will include speakers from major global, super-regional, e-commerce, catalogue, and multi-channel retailers, who will discuss how they are blending the best of new and old systems practices.

The first day of the event will look at IT-driven B2C strategies that enable sales, marketing, and merchandising strategies in-store and over the Internet. The second day will look at new IT-driven B2B strategies that improve product flow, in-stock position in store and over the Internet, and direct-to-consumer deliveries.

On Wednesday, March 14, the SupplyWebExchange Europe Symposium will address Web-based retail supply chain practices and IT standards by offering presentations from leaders in these initiatives.

Event major sponsors include Retek and retail.com, SAP, NCR, Net Perceptions, GE Global eXchange Services, Hewlett-Packard, Wincor-Nixdorf, CommercialWare, and ICL.

The forum is the result of international cooperation between MoonWatch Media in the United States and RMDP in Europe.

MoonWatch Media (formerly Retail Systems Alert Group) is a leading global business-to-business media company that has followed the advancements of technology applications within the retail, e-commerce, and supply chain industries for more than a decade. The company provides analysis and insight about a broad spectrum of issues and trends through publications, conferences and expositions, Internet services, special reports, and customized research.

RMDP is Europe's leading dedicated provider of retail business intelligence services. It organizes leading conference events, such as the Retail Automation Conference. It publishes two of Europe's leading specialist magazines - Retail Automation and Windows on Retail and Distribution. RMDP's consulting services provided one-to-one support to a host of household name retail organizations.

For more information about Global Retail Technology Forum 2001, visit http://www.rmdp.co.uk/events/grtf2001/index.htm or contact: