Omni-Channel Merchandising
This Service Description describes the SaaS Product. The applicable order documents provide pricing and additional details about Customer's order.
1. SaaS Product
1.1 Offerings
The Customer may select from the following available offerings.
1.1.1Price Management
Price Management enables retailers to implement pricing strategies by determining prices for a given item and maintaining all prices over time through the enforcement of pricing rules. The retailer can use Price Management to set up scenarios, customize pricing rules, have the system rules-price all of their merchandise and also react to data changes, such as vendor costs and competitor prices on a regular basis.
1.1.2 Price Optimization
Price Optimization enables retailers to create and run simulation and optimization scenarios in which they define strategic objectives such as increased revenues, profits, and sales volume and optimize prices to best achieve these objectives.
1.1.3 Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic Pricing enables retailers to define and implement pricing strategies for a retailer's online channel. Dynamic Pricing determines prices for a given item and maintains the enforcement of pricing rules. The retailer can use Dynamic Pricing to set up strategies, thresholds, custom pricing rules, and execute pricing on products. Additionally, Dynamic Pricing allows retailers to react to data changes, such as vendor costs and competitor prices (removed on a regular basis). Dynamic Pricing provides exception and trending visualizations, focusing the retailer on only their defined exceptions and trends.
1.1.4 Promotion Planning
Promotion Planning provides a collaborative, web-based interface for setting-up and managing item and group level promotions, including price, valid dates, performance details, and locations. Promotion Planning enables retailers to establish a single repository of promotional offers improving visibility and accountability, helps to reduce errors, and streamlining execution.
1.1.5 Promotion Optimization
Promotion Optimization helps Customer determine in real-time the optimal promotions that will accomplish their merchandising and marketing objectives. Retailers use Promotion Optimization to evaluate and forecast incoming vendor offers as well as to plan private label and other promotions. Promotion Optimization assists retailers to determine the discounted price for any item or promoted item group; the type of temporary price reduction, such as buy one get one, percent off, and multiples; and the use of merchandising support, such as ads and displays, as well as specific placement within an ad, to maximize the incremental lift and total store impact of every promotion.
1.1.6 Markdown Optimization
Markdown Optimization enables retailers to plan and optimize pricing, profit and inventory levels for items leaving the assortment. Markdown Optimization supports a wide range of markdown types, including seasonal, short product lifecycle, event and holiday, category reset, cycle refresh, and standard discount markdowns. Retailers can also create, forecast, compare, and evaluate multiple markdown pricing scenarios to fine-tune their markdown strategy.
1.1.7 Deal Management
Deal Management enables retailers to automate and streamline the presentation, negotiation, and reconciliation of trade promotions they receive from their consumer product manufacturer trading partners in a web-based environment.
1.1.8 Deal Management: Bill Distribution Module
Deal Management: Bill Distribution Module enables retailers to reduce processing cycle time, account receivable turnover ratio and manual errors through automated generation and secure distribution of PDF invoices to consumer product manufacturer trading partners.
1.1.9 Omni-channel Merchandising Preview
Omni-channel Merchandising Preview allows Customer to preview upcoming releases to help them prepare for new or updated capabilities.
1.2 Acceleration Services
1.2.1 Platform Enablement Services
- Level 1 = up to 3 BRCU
- Level 2 = up to 8 BRCU
- Level 3 = up to 15 BRCU
- Level 4 = above 15 BRCU
1.2.2 Set-Up Charges
- .Omni-channel Merchandising One-Time Setup
A one-time setup fee shall be charged upon initial provisioning of the SaaS Product. The rate and billing term will be specified in the Transaction Document and billed accordingly.
- Omni-channel Merchandising Additional Application Setup Fee
A setup fee shall be charged for each Additional Application Setup Fee ordered. The rate and billing term will be specified in the Transaction Document and billed accordingly.
1.2.3 Remote Services Charges
A remote service charge will be billed at the rate specified in the Transaction Document for such remote service. A remote service charge will expire 90 days from purchase regardless of whether the remote service has been used.
- Price Management–Platform Enablement Services
- Promotion Planning–Platform Enablement Services
- Price Optimization–Platform Enablement Services
- Price and Promotion Optimization–Platform Enablement Services
- Promotion Optimization–Platform Enablement Services
- Markdown Optimization–Platform Enablement Services
2. Service Levels
2.1 Service Level Agreement
| Availability | Credit (% of monthly subscription fee*) |
|---|---|
| Less than 99.9% | 2% |
| Less than 99.0% | 5% |
| Less than 95.0% |
3. Charges
3.1 Charge Metrics
The charge metric(s) for the SaaS Product are specified in the Transaction Document.
- Engagement consists of professional and/or training services related to the SaaS Product.
- Million Revenue Conversion Unit (MRCU) is a currency-independent measure of a Revenue amount relevant to the SaaS Product. Currency-specific Revenue amounts must be converted into RCUs in accordance with the table located at Conversion unit table (http://www.ibm.com/software/passportadvantage/conversion_unit_table.html).
| SaaS Product | Revenue Definition |
|---|---|
| Price Management Dynamic Pricing Deal Management Deal Management: Bill Distribution Module |
Revenue is Total Sales of the Included Business that the Customer intends to use with the SaaS Product(a subscription could be limited to specific product categories of the Included Business). |
| Price Optimization | Revenue is the Total Sales that Customer intends to optimize (a subscription could be limited to a portion of the Included Business). |
| Promotion Optimization Promotion Planning |
Revenue is the Total Sales of the Included Business that are generated by sales of Promoted Items. For purposes of this SaaS Product, Promoted Items are products that are temporarily featured and/or discounted or sold on any form of promotion, including without limitation, a temporary price reduction (TPR), mention in an advertisement or circular, display in a secondary location of physical stores or on the main page of a website and coupons. Promoted Items do not include Markdown Items. |
| Markdown Optimization | Revenue is the Total Sales of the Included Business that are generated by sales of Markdown Items. For purpose of this SaaS Product, Markdown Items are products sold on a permanent price reduction, generally aimed at clearing out excess supply, which includes clearance sales. |
4. Additional Terms
4.1 Verification
Customer will i) maintain, and provide upon request, records, and system tools output, as reasonably necessary for Acoustic and its independent auditor to verify Customer's compliance with the Agreement, and ii) promptly order and pay for required entitlements at Acoustic's then current rates and for other charges and liabilities determined as a result of such verification, as Acoustic specifies in an invoice. These compliance verification obligations remain in effect during the term of the SaaS Product and for two years thereafter.
4.2 Definitions
- Consumer Products or CP–means any article or component thereof produced or distributed for direct sale to a consumer. By way of example, "Consumer Products" include apparel and footwear, food and beverage, home and personal care, consumer durables & home appliances, consumer non-durables, specialty, and pet care, but do not include automobiles, airplanes, financial instruments, services or houses.
- Included Business–means the division, business unit or channel (for example, physical stores versus on-line ecommerce) in connection with which Customer subscribes to use the SaaS Product.
- Included Geography–means the geography in which Customer subscribes to use the SaaS Product.
- Retailer–means a Customer engaged in the sale of Consumer Products in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the consumer.
- Total Sales–means gross sales excluding applicable sales tax, of the legal entity
subscribing to the SaaS Product that are derived from the sale of products sold by the Included
Business based on the last reported full twelve month period prior to the initial term or renewal of
the term. The Total Sales may be recalculated if there is non-organic business growth to the
Included Business as a result of a merger or acquisition. Customer will promptly notify of mergers
or acquisitions that affect Total Sales of the Included Business.
Capitalized terms not defined herein are defined in the SaaS Product Agreement.
4.3 Price Management–Platform Enablement Services, Promotion Planning –Platform Enablement Services
- Work with Customer to obtain all required data fields as outlined in the relevant Import Data Specification Document for the applicable SaaS Product offering ("Customer Data").
- Receive and load Customer Data on a weekly or daily cadence and maintain the data translation interfaces (inbound and outbound) using standard tools. Additional fees could be required if Customer modifies the format of Customer Data following initial implementation, requests transmission of files back to Customer in a different format or requests modified data maps and automation scripts to take advantage of new data. .
Provide standard on-going account management services which ensure Customer is supported after the implementation team rolls off. This account management service will be provided remotely and will not exceed 4 hours per week
4.4 Price Optimization–Platform Enablement Services, Promotion Optimization–Platform Enablement Services, Markdown Optimization–Platform Enablement Services, Price and Promotion Optimization–Platform Enablement Services
- Work with Customer to obtain all required data fields as outlined in the relevant Acoustic Import Data Specification Document for the applicable SaaS Product offering ("Customer Data").
- Receive and load Customer Data on a weekly or daily cadence and maintain the data translation interfaces (inbound and outbound) using standard tools. Additional fees could be required if Customer modifies the format of Customer Data following initial implementation, requests transmission of files back to Customer in a different format or requests that Acoustic modify data maps and automation scripts to take advantage of new data.
- Perform its standard data validation for modeled product categories. Data validation consists of automated jobs running and checking Customer Data for potential errors and anomalies.
- Provide its standard econometric modeling services for each product category in accordance with the Project Plan, which services include creating modeling data sets, estimating models, assessing model quality, and troubleshooting models as needed. This includes initial modeling for each included product category and ongoing remodels on a reasonable cadence based on the dynamics of the category as reasonably assessed by Acoustic. In the case of a data restatement by Customer, Acoustic will work with Customer to determine whether a reload of the restated historical data and a remodel of the affected product categories is warranted, which may require additional fees to be agreed upon at that time.
- Provide standard on-going account management services which ensure Customer is supported after the implementation team rolls off. This account management service will be provided remotely and will not exceed 6 hours per week.
4.5 Customer Responsibilities for Platform Enablement Services
- Direct access for resources as necessary to complete assigned Platform Enablement Services activities.
- Appropriate level and number of Customer's resources to work on the project including:
- IT programmer(s) to work with the data integration team to create and maintain the appropriate data interfaces.
- Representatives from the business to ensure application requirements are properly translated into the contents of the data extracts.
- Strong project team for performing the following technical and business process work
required:
- Relevant data mapping documentation
- Transmission of Customer Data in accordance with agreed time lines
- Customer Data that matches the format as specified in the current Import Data Specification Document.
- Resources to address any issues in a timely manner.
- Customer's support for ensuring the information provided is correct.
Customer acknowledges that Customer's failure to perform the above obligations may affect Acoustic's ability to provide the Platform Enablement Services. If Platform Enablement Services are delayed or if Acoustic's cost of providing Platform Enablement Services is increased as a result of Customer's failure to perform the above tasks or because of any other circumstances outside of Acoustic's control, additional fees may be required. Additional fees and billing terms for such services will be ordered separately and specified in a Statement of Work.
4.6 Data and Minimum Equipment Requirements
In order to use the SaaS Products, Customer will have to provide Acoustic with the product, financial and other data described in the Acoustic Import Data Specification Document in effect on the date on which the data is provided ("Import Data"). A copy of the current Acoustic Import Data Specification Document will be provided upon signed agreement and is subject to modification by Acoustic from time to time, in its sole discretion. Further, each SaaS Product has minimum equipment requirements to access the service, which are described in the service specifications and available upon request.
4.7 Use of Import Data By Retailer's Trading Partners
If Customer subscribed to Deal Management or Deal Management: Bill Distribution Module during the subscription period, Customer authorizes Acoustic to use your Import Data to provide SaaS Products to Customer's consumer product trading partners who have also subscribed to a SaaS Product and require access to your Import Data.
4.8 Preview Limitation
If the SaaS Product is designated as "Preview", the SaaS Product can be used by Customer only for internal non-production or preview activities, including testing, performance tuning, fault diagnosis, internal benchmarking, staging, quality assurance activity and/or developing internally-used additions or extensions to the SaaS Product using published application programming interfaces. Customer is not authorized to use any part of the SaaS Product for any other purpose without acquiring the appropriate production entitlements.