The Solution Providers That Get It Right
The 19th annual RIS Software LeaderBoard report ranks the best of the best in retail technology. Through a unique and iron-clad methodology software providers are ranked by retailers across a number of metrics, all designed to uncover which vendors have the greatest customer satisfaction.
Software suppliers are examined in more than 50 head-to-head charts in categories such as overall performance, ROI, innovation, reliability, support and much more. Find out which software providers are winning the hearts and minds of retailers and their areas of superior performance.
BY THE NUMBERS
610
330
Retail voters
Less than $1B in revenue
205
Retailer evaluations of vendors
125
130
Fast-moving consumer goods retailers
More than $1B in revenue
91
Specialty retailers
40
70
78
Apparel/footwear/ accessories retailers
CEO or President
IT Director/Manager
36
CIO or other VP of IT
23
24
34
Non-IT C-level or VP-level
Vendors with 10 or more votes
Mass merchandise/
Big box retailers
The 19th annual RIS Software LeaderBoard is one of the most powerful and distinctive studies in retail technology. What makes the LeaderBoard unique is its consistent methodology, allowing for meaningful year-over-year, apples-to-apples comparisons.
Retailers can count on the LeaderBoard to track vendor success across numerous critical categories based on feedback from their peers in the field. By relying on an iron-clad methodology and objective third-party research partner, RIS has been able to track retailer satisfaction with the top vendors in the industry for nearly two decades, and continues to be a pivotal source retailers can rely on to help guide important software decisions.
Well-deserved congratulations are in order for Celerant, ECRS, Aptos, Cegid and Jesta for claiming the top positions in the top-20 master list. The master list is the only chart in the entire LeaderBoard that ranks more than 10 vendors, and does so leveraging the full data set, which includes customer satisfaction, retail concentration and revenue factor.
Special kudos to Celerant for finishing first overall in the LeaderBoard with an impressive score of 96.3 out of a possible 105 points. The POS software provider improved on last year’s third-place finish to claim the top spot thanks to a 47.3 score out of a possible 50 in customer satisfaction, the highest score achieved by any vendor. Overall Celerant placed in 33 charts, taking or tying for first place in 13 of them, with an additional nine second-place finishes.
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Keep reading to discover which vendors consistently meet retailer expectations and what their retail customers have to say about them.
It is hard to find a system that does POS, inventory management, web platform, and marketplace integration. We looked long and hard and feel that we made the right choice.
Command/Stratus by Celerant has been a very rewarding investment. It has allowed us to grow from a three store operation to a nine store operation over three states in an affordable efficient manner.
ECRS actually listens to their clients' needs and requests. They are on the forefront of POS technology and consistently work to improve and expand their product. Their product is like a luxury vehicle with all the upgrades.
ECRS is the best POS and inventory management company I have ever worked with. The level of service they provide is unparalleled. They are not just there to service their software and equipment, they genuinely care about your success.
did your go-to solution provider make the list?
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction is made up of 10 specific criteria. Each of the 10 criteria carries its own unique score within the overall total. Of the three categories, Customer Satisfaction is the one that gives the Software LeaderBoard its distinctive identity. It counts for a maximum of 50 points out of a possible 105 used to rank vendors in the top-20 master list and other top-10 lists with a full-data-set designation. The score is an aggregate of the 10 individual criteria, each of which is worth a maximum of five points. One point is awarded for the lowest level of satisfaction and five for the highest.
The points are recorded by retailers
who evaluate software vendors they have experience using within the past 12 months.
The 10 Criteria are:
Overall Performance (a measure of ease of use, speed, convenience, etc.), Return on Investment, Technology Innovation, Product Reliability, Ease of Installation/Integration, Ease of Administration/Maintenance, Quality of Support, Quality of Service, and Recommendation (a measure of how strongly retailers would recommend vendors to their colleagues).
Retail Concentration
Retail Concentration awards one point for each retail application or module a vendor offers for general availability from a list created by RIS’ editors. The editors verify all Retail Concentration scores by visiting vendor websites. If the information is not easy to find,
which is often the case, RIS directly queries the vendor.
Revenue Factor
Revenue Factor accounts for five points out of a possible 105. It is a point spread that goes across five ranges as follows: vendors with less than $20 million in retail revenue get one point, vendors between $20 million and $50 million get two points, vendors between $50 million and $125 million get three points, vendors between $125 million and $250 million get four points, and vendors greater than $250 million get five points.
Other Key Terms
Large Vendors refers to software providers that have greater than $125 million in dedicated retail technology revenue and Mid-Size Vendors refers to those with revenue less than $125 million. Broad Suite Vendors refers to software providers with more than 21 software modules in their Retail Concentration score, and Targeted Solution Vendors refers to those with less than 20 modules. All Customer Satisfaction scores in Grocery charts exclusively feature votes by grocers. Similarly, Customer Satisfaction scores in Apparel and Specialty charts exclusively feature votes by apparel and specialty retailers. All Customer Satisfaction scores in charts using the terms Tier One Retailers (revenue greater than one billion dollars) and Mid-size Retailers (revenue less than one billion dollars) exclusively feature votes by retailers that fall into these specific revenue buckets.
The LeaderBoard uses distinctive language throughout. Unique terms include Customer Satisfaction, Retail Concentration and Revenue Factor, which are referred to as “categories” in LeaderBoard terminology. These categories are converted into numbers and aggregated to create scores in the top-20 “master” list and other top-10 lists identified as “full data set” charts, which means they use all three categories to produce a total number used for stack ranking.
METHODOLOGY
Overall, we've been satisfied with the Aptos product offerings and the support we've received.
Superior support, ease of implementation, new enhancements.
Software is very reliable, no bugs or issues like other POS systems I have used.
Very friendly. Always available for any urgency. Very well organized and supportive. Easy for specific development.
Their team is very invested in our company's success. They go above and beyond.
Profitect - now Zebra is a world class organization. Their people are great to work with and we are thrilled to be their partner.
Utilizes a closed-loop, prescriptive solution that brings back what works from employees at the edge, so we can continually evaluate and become better. Telling end users what to do (prescriptively) to correct an issue vs. digging in to identify the corrective actions has become the best in class solution for our company.
They have provided a much more stable and robust solution than our previous platform.
Big group, their suite does everything, good project teams.
Solid performance, reliable products.
Powerful solution for retail core systems.
With Manthan’s Customer Data Platform & Marketing Automation implementation, we are now able to better understand our customers and their shopping journeys. This enables us to build micro-segments and create personalized targeted propositions.
Manthan has been a fantastic partner to date. Extreme value for money.
I continue to be so impressed with the customer centric and innovative mind set of the Logile team. It is always a pleasure to partner with this team.
We are working closely with Logile on a rollout. They are great to work with, and while we have a tight deadline - they are working through the growing pains. They are doing a nice job providing the support and the development we need.
It just works.
Very responsive.
An amazing company with excellent customer support which goes above and beyond.
Only sky is the limit. The adaptability of Relex software is limited only by the user’s ability.
Cognos BI tool is used extensively in our company to gain visibility to our business.
Couldn't do what we do without it.
Strong suite of products and reasonably priced.
Reliable and strong technical knowledge.
Year after year Magstar's support is unmatched by any other vendor I work with.
Support staff is excellent. Their response time is great and they are very helpful in resolving any issues. They are very willing to modify the software should we want it more personalized.
Newly updated and works well.
Solid product with decent support.
Good hardware and project team.
Very attentive partner.
Their response to problems and ideas is most impressive.
The customer service experience is incredible. It’s fast efficient and always reliable.
The Solution Providers That Get It Right
By Joe Skorupa and Tim Denman
Sponsored By
