EYERIS DATABASE RELEASES RETAIL REPORT IN THREE PHASES.

IHL Consulting Group has announced the retail industry's most comprehensive technology database, allowing users to match retailer's financial performance to the information systems that they have deployed throughout their enterprise.

The EyeRIS (Eye on Retail Information Systems) database tracks North American Retailers based on financial metrics such as Sales Growth, Gross Margins, Net Profit Margins, Inventory Turns, Return on Assets, Return on Equity, Earnings Per Share Growth, and Sales/Employee and then compares this to the information systems being used in that retailer. The database also tracks the retailer's performance against their closest competitors.

"This is the first database of its kind in the retail industry," said Greg Buzek, president of IHL Consulting Group. "It is really going to help our customers identify the key technologies that provide tangible bottom line results. For instance, why choose just any merchandising system when a retailer can use this database to quickly review the performance of retailers using each vendor's systems already?"

According to Buzek, the database is designed to help vendors, retailers and investors find answers to the following types of questions that make technology buying and selling decisions so difficult:

ANSWERS FOR THE TECHNOLOGY VENDORS

-- What impact is our technology having on our customers? How do our customers perform verses their competition in key metrics such as Gross Margins, Net Profit, ROA, Inventory Turns, and Sales/Employee? And how do our customers perform compared to our competitors' customers?

-- Based on the retailer's performance, what types of systems would probably be most attractive to this retailer?

-- Who should we partner with to have the best chance of success in a particular retail account or market segment?

-- Which customers have older equipment and are likely to be replacing that equipment in the next 12 months? What migration issues must we consider?

-- Who are the key personnel in the retailer that we need to contact, to win over, to know their names so we can get past the receptionist?

ANSWERS FOR THE RETAILERS

-- What types of systems are our competitors deploying?

-- Which companies are actively deploying Data Warehouse, CRM, or ERP technologies?

-- What types of systems do the best performing retailers in certain segments use?

-- Who are top retailers partnering with for B2B and B2C Ecommerce initiatives?

ANSWERS FOR INVESTORS

-- Which technologies are being used by the top performing retailers?

-- Which retailers are investing in key technologies?

The database includes information on over 2,800 North American retailers and will be released via reports in three phases. Phase 1, released today includes detailed company reports on 270 top retailers in the Food/Grocery, Chain Drug, Specialty Hard and Soft Goods, Department Stores, and Mass Merchandiser segments. Phase 2, to be released in late July 2000 will add data on Quick Service/Fast Food Restaurants, Table Service Bar/Restaurants, and Convenience and Gas outlets. Phase 3, to be released in September 2000 will include vendor reports and rank the vendor's average impact on performance across these segments.

IHL Consulting Group is an independent business-consulting firm headquartered in Boynton Beach, Florida that provides market analysis and business consulting services for information technology companies that focus on the retail industry. For more information, visit the company's web site at http://www.ihlservices.com or call 561/738-0773.