Payless plans to web-enable its in-store Shoe Finder system
Payless Shoes’ in-store Shoe Finder will be linked to the web within three months, Garry Kelly, Payless senior vice president of logistics information systems and technology tells Internet Retailer. Terminals in 4,900 Payless stores now get a daily update of inventory for the store where the terminal resides as well as for up to nine nearby stores.
If a customer can’t find the shoe she wants in the store, a sales associate can check backroom and transit inventory from the terminal. If the item is not available there, the associate can check inventory from nearby stores, then call the store to hold the item for customer pick-up. The customer receives a dollar-off coupon. If the inventory is not available locally, the customer can call Payless’s customer service number or go to Payless.com to order the merchandise.
Payless is planning to allow immediate store access to the web so the associate can place the order for the customer and save the sale.
Payless updates inventory from every store every night, then downloads inventory data back to stores via a virtual private network. Kelly says Payless has met its goal of saving three sales a day per store with the Shoe Finder. The company invested $12 million in setting up the Shoe Finder system, including equipping all stores with updated PCs.
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