Toronto, Canada—Seeing retailers’ need for access to real-time data throughout the enterprise, MI9 developed a data delivery plug-in compatible with legacy and new systems. MI9, the retail software development company that places business intelligence at the center of its Intelligent Retail System suite, created the MI9 Retail Hub to provide an affordable means to fill the information gap.

“Retailers face many instances when ‘tomorrow’ is too late,” says CTO Roger Johnson. “When a customer wants product information to make a purchase decision, when an order needs to be fulfilled, when a buyer places a replenishment order, when an executive is making performance-based decisions—those are just a few instances of when yesterday’s data isn’t good enough. Retailers need real-time information. We found a way to provide it cost-effectively.”

The Retail Hub integrates with enterprise and point-of-sale systems as well as third parties such as vendors and shippers, allowing seamless data exchange.

“The exciting thing is that the Retail Hub pulls everything together so that users can get to the information they need and interact with it,” says CEO Mike Burge. “If a store employee needs to fulfill a cross-channel order, he can do it quickly through the Retail Hub including notifying the shipper to schedule a pickup. If a VP of Merchandising wants to see today’s Top 15 sellers she can, and then drill down for more details. If a buyer is in China negotiating a contract, she can get up-to-the-minute details on her mobile. If you stop to think about it, you’ll see how putting real-time information in the hands of everyone in the retail organization will have a phenomenal impact on decision making and performance.”

The MI9 Retail Hub can be utilized on PCs, POS systems, tablets, and phones. It can extend the life of legacy POS and ERP systems by allowing retailers to provide real-time data within their existing environments.