As more students order on the web from the hundreds of college bookstores it operates, Follett Higher Education Group’s eFollett.com has gotten smarter about how to fulfill those orders from store stock. Web sales are up about 20% so far this year, even as overall sales are flat, says Tom Dillon, vice president of merchandising systems.
Follett Higher Education Group, No. 68 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, sells college textbooks and general merchandise like apparel, gifts and school supplies through some 900 college bookstores on campuses including the University of Notre Dame, Florida State University and Stanford University. Each store has an associated retail web site that Follett operates on its eFollett.com e-commerce platform.
With every freshman class more Internet-savvy than the last, Follett is facing an unusual challenge: Although it maintains nearly its entire college textbook inventory in its 900 stores, more orders for them are being placed online every year, putting pressure on Follett to connect web orders with store inventory.
With the web already accounting for about 12% of store sales, double about two years ago, Follett sees that percentage rising every year. “It could go as high as 50%,” Dillon says.
Until recently, however, the surge in online orders was disrupting Follett’s ability to fulfill them and keep its growing number of web shoppers happy and stores running efficiently. That’s because Follett’s retail sites didn’t indicate whether featured products were actually in stock in the associated bricks-and-mortar store.
To address that issue, Follett is using a suite of applications from JDA Software Group Inc., including the JDA Merchandise Management System and Win/DSS point of sale system, which integrate information on merchandise inventory and online and store sales data. Now as sales occur online and at the store POS terminal, the system automatically updates the JDA Merchandise Management System, so product availability is displayed accurately on the web. And as store clerks receive online orders, they can be sure items are in stock before going to the picking location to find the merchandise.
“This helps us complete web orders faster and keep online customers happier, so our e-commerce continues to grow 20% or more a year,” Dillon says.
Back...
