Technology

GK/Retail is the benchmark for modern store solutions and has been setting standards in the fields of technology, operating costs, breadth of functions, openness and future viability for years. Leading European retailers use GK/Retail every day to handle millions of transactions, link up tens of thousands of stores to their enterprise systems or use GK/Retail on mobile devices to manage merchandise management processes.

Advanced Business Components

GK/Retail 12 is completely based on ABC technology (Advanced Business Components). All the components are completely encapsulated from each other and communicate with each other through defined interfaces. So it is easy to link new components to the overall structure as if they were modules. This not only applies to GK/Retail components and customer functions, but also external systems. For instance, CRM systems, web shops or new subsystems, like fiscal printers or EFT terminals, can be integrated in GK/Retail 12 very quickly as core plug-ins through defined interfaces. As the source code of the standard software remains unchanged, the reaction time for new requirements is significantly reduced and the time-to-market substantially accelerated, without affecting the capacity to upgrade the program.     

ARTS-Compliant SOA Software for Store-Based Corporations

The end-to-end design of the software modules in business components fully matches the concept of Services Oriented Architecture (SOA). GK/Retail can be seamlessly linked to SOA landscapes, as the components can be activated as web services by outside software. GK/Retail supports both the classic SOA standards and also the RTI (Retail Transaction Interface) software, which has been specially developed for retail applications by the ARTS committee.

100% Pure Java

In line with the product philosophy at GK SOFTWARE AG, all the GK/Retail software solutions are consistently produced in 100% pure Java and can therefore operate on nearly any kind of hardware and on all common operating systems without any restrictions. 

Open Standards

All the GK/Retail software programs exclusively use standardized processes or protocols like Java-POS, Java-RMI, HTTP, TCP/IP or SMTP to communicate with peripheral equipment, external data sources or third party software.

ARTS

The ARTS data model forms the heart of data management in GK/Retail. The breadth and universality of the data model allow the system to link up with peripheral equipment and outside systems almost without any restrictions. This safeguards new business processes and makes it simple to link in other applications that conform to ARTS. Issues like the type of item (container/options, fashion, labeling) and promotions are already comprehensively included along with stocktaking or merchandise management slips. GK/Retail supports the IXRetail communications norm, which the ARTS committee has set as its standard.   

SAP Link

GK SOFTWARE AG has had many years of experience in linking up with central SAP systems. GK/Retail can, for example, directly create SAP iDocs and then process them. Or alternatively, the GK/Retail suite software solutions can be seamlessly integrated in SAP XI (Exchange Interface) structures. GK/Retail has ready “out of the box� scenarios for smooth SAP integration, e.g. based on SAP NetWeaver (powered by NetWeaver) or the certified POS interface for downloading and uploading data (Certified Integration).

Enterprise Portals/EAI

The issue of enterprise portals is a major focus of modern IT landscapes within the scope of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI). GK/Retail supports the central standards for enterprise portals, e.g. those of the GUI presentation (HTML, CSS, JSP), integration (web services, JCA=J2EE Connector Architecture) and portal techniques (JSR =Java Specification Request, web services).

Research and Development

We consistently focus our research and development resources on innovative technologies, which provide clear additional benefits for our customers. We strictly adhere to the principle that technology should never be an end in itself, but always a means to an end. Ultimately, the major focus is on questions like: How can technology improve work in stores? How can retailers become even more successful as a result of new technologies?

Advantages through State of the Art Technology

GK/Retail is the technology benchmark for modern store software. Pure Java, ARTS, OPI, open standards, SOA compatibility and unrestricted scalability ensure that the software does not impose any restrictions – either with regard to operating systems or hardware, databases or integration scenarios. 

Standard Software Can Be Updated

GK/Retail enables you to remain on the cutting edge of technological developments in the future too. GK/Retail Standard forms the basis for every project and it is being further developed all the time. Then customer projects can be updated and can benefit from the improvements made in the standard software.

Completing Projects on Time and on Budget

Completing projects quickly and on schedule with the highest quality levels is one of the unique selling points of GK SOFTWARE AG. GK/Retail Standard forms the basis for this – it allows projects to be completed quickly and this work can also be performed by partner companies, if necessary.