How Ames uses the web to save paper

East Coast discount chain Ames Dept. Stores has reduced its paper and paper distribution costs by six figures since implementing a corporate web portal over the past year, Ames’ vice president of technology Norman Zeit told Retail Systems 2001 Wednesday.

The portal connects with every Ames employee in the home office as well as Ames’ 452 stores, handling corporate and employee communications. Store employees can access the portal through four work stations in each store; eventually, they’ll be able to access the portal from home connections, Zeit said.

In addition to improving employee communication, the portal already is delivering business benefits. For example, it provides a listing of every vendor’s 800 number so employees can call them directly and toll free. Ames expects to open the portal to vendors in the future in a move toward entirely paperless employee and business communication. “We’ve saved hundreds of thousand of pages,” Zeit said. “Everything that used to be on paper we’re moving to the portal.”