Retailer Mothercare says it will wait until after the Christmas sales rush before it thinks about merging its IT systems with those of Early Learning Centre which it is set to acquire for £85m from Chelsea Store Holdings Limited.

While a date for the completion of the deal has yet to be established, Mothercare says it wants to cut costs and improve efficiency by merging some IT functions.

‘Addressing IT issues such as supply chain efficiencies are on the agenda but we want to minimise any disruption to sales in the lead up to Christmas,' a Mothercare spokesman told Computing.

‘We will look at any opportunity to maximise efficiencies in the IT department and across the business as a whole, but our first priority is to get shareholder approval and get the deal done,' he said.

Mothercare has spent invested heavily in IT systems in recent years after previously citing a lack of IT investment as a factor in poor sales (Computing, 22 September 2004).

In the past three years, it has upgraded its tills and introduced web ordering systems, sales analytics, financial management software, e-learning and an electronic gift card scheme.

Retailers must have goods on the shelf, so integrating supply chain management systems will be top priority when the deal closes, says Datamonitor lead analyst Alex Kwiatkowski.

‘Other important IT systems to examine during a merger would be enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, customer loyalty programmes and online ordering,’ he said.

‘Mothercare will need to examine its technology to determine what systems can be shared or need to be replaced to improve efficiency and realise cost savings.’

But avoiding disruption to systems during the busy summer period and run-up to Christmas is a sensible approach, he says.

‘There is an opportunity to get systems working right, rather than having a hybrid system that is bolted together in an uneasy fashion,’ said Kwiatkowski.