Laura Canada leaps into e-commerce

Laura Canada, a Montreal-based chain that operates more than 100 women’s apparel stores across Canada, is developing its first transactional e-commerce site for its four brands—Laura, Laura Petite, Laura Plus and Laura Petite Plus—in  time for this year’s fourth quarter holiday shopping season, says Sam Barnes, Laura Canada’s director of e-commerce.

“Laura has to launch an e-commerce site that can instantly compete with the well-known brands that have been running e-commerce operations for years,” Barnes says.

After a technology and strategy review with e-commerce consultants Digital Prophets Network, the retailer decided to build its site on Internet-hosted, software-as-a-service technology from OrderDynamics. It’s also working with Montreal digital design firm Twist Image.

With OrderDynamics, the retailer will be able to operate its e-commerce site on a single technology platform supported by back-end business operations software from Epicor that handles inventory management, product pricing, order fulfillment and customer relationship management, Barnes says. “This will enable a more engaging online experience as well as streamlined operations,” Barnes says. “We expect to be constantly optimizing our user experience with OrderDynamics personalization, merchandising and promotional capabilities.”

And with additional capabilities like built-in tools for optimizing its site for natural search rankings and the capability to add mobile versions of its sites, Barnes says he figures Laura’s e-commerce needs should be set for the long term.