Payless ShoeSource targets 15-20% online sales increase with new web site

Payless ShoeSource expects to increase online sales 15-20% and boost conversion rates by outsourcing the infrastructure of a new retail web site, reports management and technology consultants Accenture, which will build and host a new Payless.com.

Accenture will design and build the new Payless.com with Accenture’s Interactive Retail Services technology platform along with Microsoft Windows Server System and the Microsoft Solution for Internet Business suite of web development tools. Accenture, which will host the new site within an AT&T; hosting center, will also provide Payless with a suite of application software and administrative tools that will let the retailer’s managers control online merchandising, promotions, e-catalogs and overall content management, says Fred Schneider, a partner in Accenture’s retail and consumer goods practice.

The goal is to produce a site that integrates merchandising, content management and data analytics in back-end data warehouses, Schneider adds. "We’re trying to take retailers to the next level of e-commerce," he says.

Accenture is providing similar services to several companies in its retail and consumer goods practice, including retailers and brand manufacturers who operate consumer-facing e-commerce web sites, Schneider says. "We’re seeing more branded manufacturers using an e-commerce direct-to-consumer site," he says.