New systems enable Overstock to once more stock up on new products
Now that Overstock.com is well into its project of making wholesale improvements to its e-commerce platform and back-end reporting systems the Internet retailer is getting back to adding new products to its online products inventory. On Sept. 16 Overstock, No. 19 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites, added more than $30 million worth of new merchandise in categories such as jewelry, apparel, home and housewares and consumer electronics.
While working out the timing, testing and implementation of its new systems, Overstock had not loaded new products from its warehouse and fulfillment network onto the web site for nearly five weeks, several weeks longer than anticipated, the company says.
“This upgrade was the equivalent of a heart, lung and kidney transplant," says Patrick Byrne, president of Overstock.com. "The replacement of the core technology infrastructure prevented us from uploading new items.”
In the second quarter of 2005, Overstock spent $6.1 million on information technology and related services, up 233% from $1.8 million for the same quarter in 2004. For the first half of 2005, technology spending was up 218% to $10.2 million from $3.2 million for the first six months of 2004.
"These investments in technology, while incredibly expensive, are providing a foundation for the next five years,” Byrne says.
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