DemandTec Announces Fifth Annual Scholarship Competition and Charter Sponsors

SAN MATEO, Calif., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DemandTec, Inc. (Nasdaq: DMAN), a global leading provider of predictive merchandising, marketing, trade, and shopper analytics solutions for the retail value chain, today announced the details of its fifth annual DemandTec Retail Challenge, a nationwide scholarship competition incorporating math, science, and business disciplines for high school students.

The goal of the DemandTec Retail Challenge is to raise awareness of applied math, science, and business concepts among high school students.  The competition is conducted through an online business simulation where high school seniors compete for scholarship awards toward the college of their choice.

"Statistics show that American students experience a sharp drop-off in math and science skills after elementary school, and our goal is to promote interest in these two critical subjects," said Dan Fishback, DemandTec's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The DemandTec Retail Challenge is our way of educating high school students on why math and science matter in the business world and the many career choices available to them if they continue their studies in these areas."

Presented with the sales, pricing, merchandising, and inventory history of a hypothetical assortment of retail products for a fictional retailer, teams are responsible for maximizing that retailer's profits by making daily pricing and inventory decisions. Using a modified version of DemandTec retail analytic software, students use historical data to create statistical models of consumer behavior and then make decisions each day as they are given additional information. Inventory lead times vary by product, like those in the real world of retail, requiring students to plan accordingly.

At the end of a two-week simulation, each team's pricing and purchase decisions are evaluated, and the three teams in each region with the highest profits advance to the Regional Finals, where they present their analysis to a panel of judges.

For the second straight year NASDAQ will be hosting the DemandTec Retail Challenge at NASDAQ OMX Stock Market in New York City on January 10, 2011, where the top 10 regional winning teams will compete in a Grand Championship round for the chance to win an additional scholarship prize and ring the NASDAQ closing bell.

"We are excited to be hosting the DemandTec Retail Challenge Grand Championship round again this year. Last year's students worked so intensely on their simulation, and having them be part of the closing bell ceremony was a truly enriching experience for not only the students but also for members of the NASDAQ team," said Bruce Aust, Executive Vice President, Corporate Client Group for NASDAQ OMX.

The regional rounds of the DemandTec Retail Challenge are supported by corporate and individual sponsors. To date, DemandTec has secured four regional sponsors, including Giant Eagle, Netezza, Target Corporation, and Tops Markets. The deadline for participating as a sponsor is August 30, 2010 and becoming a sponsor requires only a minimal financial and time investment.

"We are thrilled to contribute to such an important corporate citizenship program," said Stephanie White, Vice President of Sales Systems & Operations for Giant Eagle Inc. "The DemandTec Retail Challenge is a unique program that incorporates real world business experience and learning, with collaboration and fun."

Originating in 2005, the DemandTec Retail Challenge began as a local competition in the San Francisco Bay Area and has flourished to a nationwide event. Since its inception, more than $100,000 in scholarship money has been awarded.

Learn more about the DemandTec Retail Challenge and how to become a sponsor, or register for a free informative webinar scheduled on July 28, 2010 at 11:00am Pacific, 2:00pm Eastern.

Twitter: twitter.com/RetailChallenge

Facebook: facebook.com/DTRetailChallenge

About DemandTec

DemandTec (NASDAQ: DMAN) enables retailers and consumer products companies to optimize merchandising and marketing decisions, individually or collaboratively, to achieve their sales volume, revenue, shopper loyalty, and profitability objectives.  DemandTec software services utilize DemandTec's science-based software platform to model and understand consumer behavior. DemandTec customers include more than 230 leading retailers and consumer products manufacturers such as Ahold USA, Best Buy, ConAgra Foods, Delhaize America, General Mills, H-E-B Grocery Co., Hormel Foods, Monoprix, PETCO, Safeway, Sara Lee, Target, The Home Depot, Wal-Mart and WH Smith. Connected via the DemandTec TradePoint Network™, DemandTec customers have collaborated on over 3.2 million trade deals.

SOURCE DemandTec, Inc.