Warehouse management systems may well be the cool technology to have in 2006, according to a recent Distribution Digest survey. A significant percentage of the respondents are considering a WMS implementation in the coming year. With that in mind, Distribution Digest shares the following advice on building a business case for a WMS:

CommercialWare Inc., a provider of cross-channel commerce solutions for retailers, will provide infrastructure solutions for The Vermont Country Store. With a need to modernize operations and an eye to long-term growth, the 60-year-old enterprise has selected CommercialWare

Now that multichannel retailing is well established, merger and acquisition activity is picking up markedly in the sector. According to Petsky Prunier LLC, an investment bank specializing in direct marketing deals, for the first nine months of 2005, M&As among marketing service, marketing technology, and multichannel marketer companies totaled 351 transactions and represented $38.5 billion in estimated transaction value. The nine-month transaction dollar volume is a record, up 66% from the same period last year. This period was also characterized by larger transactions: The median direct marketing industry transaction during year-to-date 2005 was $18.5 million, up 85% from $10 million during the same period in 2004.

As the holidays begin, consumer confidence is looking up. A December economic report from BIGResearch says that the number of consumers who are very confident or confident in the chances for a strong economy has risen to 43.1% from 39.3% in November. The increase in confidence parallels a decrease in those concerned with political and national security affairs. About one in five (20.2%) continue to worry, down a point from last month (21.2%) and about three points from 2004 (23.4%).