Sterling Commerce Lays Foundation for Sport Retailer Stadium's e-Commerce Site

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - January 12, 2009) - At the National Retail Federation Convention and Expo, Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) company, today announced that Stadium, the largest sporting goods company in Scandinavia and which is part owned by IKEA, has selected Sterling Integrator Retail Edition as the integration platform to underpin their new multi-channel retail program. As part of the new program, a home shopping website has been developed to help grow sales, improve customer satisfaction and expand the business internationally.

Using Sterling Integrator Retail Edition, Stadium's home shopping web site will enable the integration with the company's essential corporate systems including Enterprise Resource Planning for order processing, Warehouse Management for inventory status and order fulfilment, Store Operations for sales and production data and Customer Relationship Management for customer service. Sterling Integrator Retail Edition also will provide the integration between Stadium's headquarters and their logistics providers and carriers, as well as the Swedish Post Office for local parcel collection by customers.

Per Hedvall, IT project manager at Stadium, said: "When we decided to launch our new home shopping web site, one of the most important considerations was how to centrally manage the integration with a complex range of systems and service providers. Following an extensive review, we selected Sterling Commerce because of their long experience and heritage in B2B integration and because their platform offered multiple points of integration to which new systems can be connected. Crucial to our decision was Sterling Commerce's excellent reputation for external integration, and we are confident that we are well prepared for future scalability and building larger communities of suppliers and service providers."

Stadium identified 14 different internal and external processes that needed to be fully integrated to ensure the success of the project. Over and above the more regular system integration, Stadium's website required real-time interaction with third party service providers to finalize shipping and delivery details. As a result of the new integration platform, all process management has been centralized to ensure optimized performance and customers benefit by being able to choose where they want to collect their purchase -- in a local Stadium store or at a local Post Office.

"Stadium is an excellent example of a company that has successfully deployed their home web site as a holistic and integral component of their day-to-day bricks and mortar business. This demands fully integrated multi-channel process and systems to ensure customers receive a seamless shopping experience," said Jim Bengier, global retail industry executive at Sterling Commerce. "A recent survey, commissioned by Sterling Commerce, of consumers in Europe and the US, showed that customers expect the same service, treatment and support regardless of which channel they do their shopping(1). With Sterling Integrator Retail Edition, Stadium has taken an important step towards meeting the expectations of their customers, both now and in the future."

About Stadium

Stadium is the largest sports retail chain in Sweden with an annual turnover of SEK 4,800,000,000 and around 3,000 employees in the Group. Stadium has been privately owned since the beginning but in 2005 IKEA acquired 25% of the company. Stadium's range includes most types of products for an active life, such as clothes, shoes, kits and equipment for team sports, golfing equipment, kickboards, in-lines, skis and much more. The range encompasses both leading brand products, as well as the Group's own brands, such as Everest, Warp, 4D, and Soc.

About Sterling Commerce

Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) company, helps customers thrive in a global economy by connecting their business communities, processes, people and technology. More than 30,000 customers worldwide use Sterling Commerce solutions for business process integration, multi-channel selling, and supply chain fulfillment, and payments management to optimize business performance inside and outside their enterprise. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Sterling Commerce has offices in 24 countries around the world. More information can be found at www.sterlingcommerce.com

(1) Ipsos MORI survey 'i-Omnibus,' March 2008, as commissioned by Sterling Commerce (further details available on request).