The WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE), the premier Internet-based business-to-business exchange for retailers and suppliers, today announces the launch of their data quality program. The WWRE will partner with ACNielsen, the world's leading provider of marketing information and data quality/alignment services, and UDEX, the world's premier provider of product data cleansing and data quality services, to enable retailers and suppliers to achieve the level of data quality necessary to realize a return on their investment to data synchronization. This agreement will make the WWRE the first international Exchange to provide a robust data quality program on a global basis.

In a recent Cap Gemini study (May 2004) their findings stated, "more than half of the items in company systems contain incorrect data." The study went on to say that without internal data alignment Global Data Synchronization (GDS) will not improve business performance, but will magnify the negative impact of bad data. As well, additional collaborative solutions, e.g. CPFR, would not be scalable. Through this new program, the WWRE will enable customers to prepare themselves for data synch, and be armed with the data requirements of their trading partners in order to start synchronizing faster.

The WWRE Data Quality Program is an enhancement to the existing implementation methodology for on-boarding customers to WorldWide Item Management (WIM), part of their WorldSYNC(TM) solution. Additional services, now provided by WWRE WorldSYNC, include GDS assessment and trading partner data needs assessment. Coupled with the WWRE's Accreditation Services, which train and educate a user on data synch, WWRE customers can now implement their GDS projects much more swiftly and effectively. Additional services of a customer "go-live" include compliance checks and extended data alignment for those data synchronization initiatives expanded to include additional product attributes. These components, along with the data cleansing expertise provided by our partners, UDEX and ACNielsen, make the Data Quality Program a unique offering for the Retail industry.

ACNielsen, with its Global Passport application and professional services, focuses on improving data quality at source and achieving data alignment behind the firewall and through the supply chain. Having worked with WWRE members such as SCA Hygiene, ACNielsen successfully assisted the customer in aligning its data files to enable SCA to synchronize with its trading partners more effectively.

"Partnering with the WWRE is a natural fit for ACNielsen," said David Timberlake, VP of ACNielsen Global Services. "We both have global reach, ensuring that manufacturers and retailers can implement industry standards in an identical way across countries and regions. Our partnership will provide valuable support to those WWRE members that are seeking to accelerate their data synchronization activities with trading partners, as well as support to all non-member suppliers who want to connect to the WWRE retailer systems through the Exchange."

UDEX, with its Trustmark solutions, focuses on data cleansing and quality assurance to help suppliers provide accurate, consistent and complete product information to their trading partners. UDEX has provided data quality assurance services to WWRE customers such as Tesco, and has assisted nearly 3000 suppliers with the preparation, cleansing and quality control of their product information.

"Many of the world's most respected companies rely on UDEX to cleanse and quality assure their product data prior to synchronization," commented Robin Howe, CEO of UDEX. "WWRE offers a world-class data synchronization solution, so it was only natural that we partner to provide an end-to-end blended service that delivers accurate, consistent and complete product information to the retail supply chain."

"Our members realize that clean and dependable data is critical to their data sync initiatives," commented Pete Plotas, director of strategic alliances at the WWRE. "Through our data quality program, and partnerships with ACNielsen and UDEX, the WWRE will be providing services that help our customers ensure their data and databases are aligned with global standards and will allow them to more quickly begin synchronizing item information with their trading partners."

About the WWRE(R)

The WWRE(R) is the premier Internet-based business-to-business exchange for retailers and suppliers. Designed to facilitate and simplify trading between manufacturers, retailers and suppliers, the WWRE(R) currently consists of members from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America with combined sales of approximately U.S. $900 billion. For more information, visit the website at www.wwre.org or www.worldwideretailexchange.org.

About ACNielsen

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information company. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the company provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns. http://www.acnielsen.com

About UDEX

UDEX, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom with offices in Europe and the United States, provides solutions to help retailers and their suppliers cleanse their product data. UDEX customers comprise some of the world's most respected retailers and suppliers, consisting of 16 demand-side trading partners and nearly 3,000 companies with over 250,000 items. Partnerships with global standards organizations, data pools, solution providers and other industry bodies ensure interoperability and a consistent flow of accurate and complete product information to all parties. For more information, please visit the UDEX website at www.udex.com.

WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE)
Jane Wilson, 703-234-5208
email: jwilson@wwre.org
or
ACNielsen
David Timberlake, 44-1865-732-2643
email: david.timberlake@acnielsen.co.uk
or
UDEX
Suzette Sexton, 847-509-3099 x206
email: ssexton@outlookmarketingsrv.com