Standards and Interoperability for Retail

For decades, industry standards have played a key role in the implementation and definition of business processes in the retail industry. In the past, standards were particularly designed to structure and align collaborative business scenarios between retailers and their partners, particularly with respect to replenishment. Today the number of standards is increasing and companies are preparing to take advantage of existing and emerging standards to improve collaborative business processes and to increase operational efficiency in an industry where supply chain execution can be a key differentiator. 

Getting Started

Industry Standards for the Retail Industry  
This page provides a summary of the most relevant standards for the retail industry.  These standards primarily address the collaborative planning and replenishment.

The Global Data Synchronization Network   
Learn more about the different roles in the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) and how the message choreography for product information is orchestrated. This tutorial also provides details about the data pools, UCCnet and Transora in the synchronization network.

More on Industry Standards
Financial Regulatory Compliance Affecting the Retail Industry  
SAP solutions provide a complete financial management solution for companies in the retail industry. It is the leading enterprise software solution for accounting, financial reporting, performance management, and corporate governance. SAP solutions address a broad range of compliance and governance issues, including Sarbanes-Oxley, IFRS, Basel II, Global Trade Compliance and Environmental Health and Safety.

Standards and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) 
SOA is a business-driven software architecture that increases adaptability, flexibility, openness, and cost-efficiency. With SOA, organizations can compose applications and enable business processes rapidly using enterprise services. With SOA, organizations can improve their reuse of software and become more agile in responding to change. Standards are critical to SOA as they enable SAP and non-SAP applications and services to interoperate, so that they work together as seamlessly as possible, without adding unnecessary cost and risk to the business.