Web supply buying makes stores more efficient, says Barnes & Noble exec

Barnes & Noble Inc. believes that its investment in a web-based supplies procurement system from SupplyWorks Inc. (internetretailer.com, 10/9) will free store personnel to concentrate more on selling books than on managing the store, Jack Kelleher, vice president of store operations, tells internetretailer.com.

While Barnes & Noble expects a payback on its investment in the technology in a year, its motivation was more efficient operations. Barnes & Noble had been using paper catalogs from a variety of suppliers. Stores would fax or phone the orders directly to the supplier in most cases. Problems arose when store managers used old catalogs or the catalogs had incomplete information which resulted in the wrong product being ordered. In addition, the process was cumbersome, requiring the manager to fill out a paper form and fax it to the supplier, and had no confirmation process, so managers were never certain that the supplier received the order properly. “Our primary thought was to use this as a utility to streamline the process for our stores,” Kelleher says.

Now store managers will log onto an intranet where the suppliers` catalogs will reside. They will review all product available and place their orders, which will go directly to the appropriate suppliers. SupplyWorks will provide reports that the managers use to track their spending against their budgets. The first supplies going up on the web-based system are office supplies, paper, bags and cleaning supplies, which represent about 75% of the supplies a typical store orders, Kelleher says.

Barnes & Noble tested the system in 45 stores in August and by the beginning of this month had rolled it out to nearly 1,000 Barnes & Noble and B. Dalton stores. Kelleher expects training of store personnel to be minimal. “The system is very intuitive,” he says.