Santa`s Biggest Helper This Holiday Season -- e-commerce
It`s very likely this holiday season that shoppers are going to be
looking to retailers to make shopping quicker, more convenient and more
price-competitive than ever before -- with an eye to avoiding jammed
parking lots, crowded stores, unavailable merchandise and long lines at
checkout. Simply put, holiday shoppers are going to want it all.
Fully half of all buyers now report shopping online before making
purchasing decisions. Consequently, they want multiple ways to shop: to
buy online and have the merchandise delivered on-time; to shop online
and pick up merchandise at the store to avoid shipping costs: and to get
the same information online as the get in the store and through the call
center.
To deliver on this expectation, retailers need to integrate every step
of the shopping experience -- from Web browsing, to call centers, to
in-store employee contacts and information kiosks. Partnering with IBM
can get you there -- the debate between online and off-line is over.
Consumers expect their retailers to offer both options. Current data
indicates that online impacts off-line sales in a big way: for every
dollar spent online, $5.50 is spent off-line.
IBM is helping its customers give consumers a shopping experience that
is easy, convenient and price-competitive.
Duck Head, a $53 million-a-year clothing manufacturer headquartered in
Winder, Georgia, knew that being an e-business meant integrating an
online channel with back-end business processes, such as inventory
management, shipping and fulfillment applications. To achieve these
goals, Duck Head chose IBM because of its ability to plan and develop a
truly integrated solution. Since implementing the solution, the company
has seen a 100% ROI within 6 months; 25% increase in sales every month,
and a 50% reduction in shipping time.
When retail executive George Granoff stepped foot in The Art Store in
Boston in 1995, he quickly found himself in an industry that was behind
the retail curve in terms of scanning, bar coding and delivery. In a
market filled mostly with mom & pop stores that held back on technology
investments, Granoff quickly found an opportunity for competitive
advantage - using technology to procure goods at a low cost.
With IBM`s back-end solution and POS cash registers in all stores,
Granoff quickly set up an integrated front/back end solution running on
JDA software that rang sales on one end and deducted inventory on the
other, and acted as a link between stores and the home office. This
solution allowed The Art Store to operate with fewer people and reduced
overhead helping Granoff`s business grow from Four stores to 11, with
development of a 12th underway.
Pacific Sunwear, a specialty retailer for the teen market based in
Newport Beach, California, had to integrate systems to accommodate more
inventory, bigger stores, new lines of merchandise and an e-commerce
website. Working with IBM and IBM Business Partners, Pacific Sunwear has
designed its computer systems to handle its incredible growth. The
systems have helped them operate the business more efficiently while
keeping I/T costs at a minimum. Pacific Sunwear closed the books on
2000 with $589.4 million in net sales - 35 percent greater than 1999 and
continuing a four-year run of 30 percent-plus annual growth rates.
Flowergrower.com in Boca Raton, Florida wanted to provide flower growers
and retailers with a complete e-marketplace solution that included
commerce, logistics and financing. It`s goal was to minimize delivery
time to ensure retailers get the freshest product possible. Partnering
with IBM Flowergrower.com has grown to serve 40 growers, with 300 on the
waiting list and 450-500 retailers (flower shops) in the U.S. Long
term, the company forecasts that it will grab 4-5% of the $15 billion
U.S. retail market, and 100% ROI on the retail solution from IBM is
expected within 2 years.
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