Industry News - August 21St, 2008
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RETAIL AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
Giant-Carlisle Manages Fuel Pricing with KSS Software
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Giant-Carlisle, a subsidiary of Ahold USA, selects KSS PriceNet, PriceNet Mobile and Visualizer platforms to manage fuel pricing for 61 Giant Food Store fuel locations across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
PriceNet supports tasks involved in retail fuels pricing, from capturing field-based intelligence at the site level to the generation of price proposals, via comprehensive pricing rules or price optimization. With PriceNet Mobile, users can enter competitor prices and receive new price proposals in seconds that are sent directly to their mobile device for approval and implementation. PriceNet Mobile users also can review key performance measures and receive exception-based performance alerts, minimizing the delays in responding to market events and/or competitor price changes that can cost retailers lost volume, margin or price image.
KSS Visualizer is a Web-based data visualization tool that gives retailers and wholesalers central visibility of their fuel operations - from the entire enterprise to a store-by-store basis. The software helps users track individual store performance against pre-determined goals. It also draws attention to significant changes in key performance measures such as volume, running rates, margins, competitor price position and more.
"In today's fuel environment, it's vital to have accurate and reliable information at our fingertips to make important, competitive business decisions as market conditions change," says Todd Patti, vice president for general merchandise, health & beauty care, and fuel at Giant Food Stores. "The PriceNet, PriceNet Mobile and Visualizer software from KSS provides the flexibility we need to create a responsive fuel pricing process that we can monitor and adjust as needed."
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Office Depot Enhances E-Commerce Site |
Office Depot implements Hubspan's on-demand integration platform to handle transactions with thousands of suppliers and business customers on a daily basis. The retailer enhance its e-commerce capabilities to help ensure on-time deliveries, order accuracy and purchasing automation.
Hubspan's software-as-a-service (SaaS) integration platform helps create highly-responsive, information-enriched supply and demand chains. By helping to eliminate manual workarounds and long cycle times, the retailer gains innovative procurement, payment and logistics processes.
"Office Depot is committed to delivering innovative solutions, as we continually look to enhance shared business processes within our diverse customer community," said Glenn Trommer, director of e-commerce and implementation services for Office Depot. "Hubspan extends our e-commerce capability, making it simpler for our customers to do business with us."
Hubspan's SaaS integration platform is compatible with major enterprise applications, transports and data formats, simplifying and enhancing business collaboration where different systems must share information. It also helps enable real-time business processes, special handling requests, bi-directional information flows and exceptions to meet specific customer requirements.
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DSW.com Adds Order Fulfillment |
DSW implements Sterling Order Management as the order fulfillment foundation for the new DSW.com. The footwear retailer uses the order management to provide a contextual, unified view of the order. This view, used by DSW's Call Center, helps improve efficiencies throughout the order lifecycle by helping ensure the right information is accessible and actionable for those who need it. It also captures exceptions by leveraging a proactive events management and alert notification modeler to ensure customer orders are complete, accurate, and timely.
"At DSW, we understand that the future of retailing is delivering on a cross-channel vision that will enable customers to have a superior shopping experience with our brand no matter which channel they choose," said Jon Ricker, chief information officer at DSW. "We have that vision, and are excited about our first step, the new DSW.com site, that lays the foundation that will enable DSW to achieve new levels of innovation in how we serve our customers."
AT&T delivers managed hosting services for DSW.com and its full commerce suite, including Sterling Order Management. DSW also uses Sterling Commerce Gentran Integration Suite (GIS) as the enterprise service bus that provided an enterprise application integration layer that enabled disparate systems to work together. Functioning as an integration hub, GIS provided connectivity and a business logic layer that could be used to build in business rules to meet DSW's process requirements.
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Reebok-CCM Hockey Goes Live with iCongo’s E-Commerce Platform |
Reebok-CCM Hockey implements iCongo's business-to-business e-commerce platform. Reebok-CCM Hockey uses iCongo's ICE3 TM suite to conduct its entire order entry and order management processes online. These systems include ICE3 TM business-to-business catalog and order entry system, ICE3 TM workflow system, online and offline sales force automation (SFA), ICE3 TM customer portal and ICE3 TM comprehensive suite of marketing and collaboration modules. The systems are internationalized including accessibility in multiple languages, product catalogs by country and multi-currency support.
"We selected iCongo's comprehensive suite of business-to-business e-commerce systems based on the richness and completeness of their e-commerce platform, the depth and flexibility of their e-commerce systems and their strong industry experience," says John Bissert, director of sales, Reebok-CCM Hockey U.S. "After going live with iCongo's B2B e-commerce platform, we are now offering our customers the systems required to obtain important up-to-date product information and the ability to place and track orders more quickly and efficiently online, 24x7. At the same time, the systems are lowering our order processing costs and improving ordering efficiencies and improving services to our customers; enabling us to more effectively communicate and collaborate with our customers."
Reebok-CCM Hockey's sales representatives improve the speed and efficiency of their sales efforts by using the ICE3 TM online and offline SFA system. By using the SFA System, reps are able to receive the latest product and customer information, enter orders on behalf of their customers both online or offline and electronically transmit sales orders while on the road. The reps are also able to place booking orders (future orders) using the system's specialized booking order functionality.
"iCongo's B2B platform is allowing us to deliver to our customers improved services and efficiencies," said Giovanna Di Ielsi, director, e-commerce and MIS for Reebok-CCM Hockey. "For example, a consumer can now walk into a sporting goods store on the weekend looking for a specific Rbk hockey stick, and if the item is not in stock, the retailer can place the order right on the spot and guarantee delivery to their customer."
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Nordstrom Forms Payment Processing Agreement with First Data |
Nordstrom fsb forms a new payment processing agreement with First Data. The seven-year agreement calls for First Data to provide card processing, call center and back office automation tools, fraud and risk management, customer analytics as well as e-statements and e-mail alerts for Nordstrom's entire card portfolio including Nordstrom Visa, private label credit and debit cards and commercial cards for Nordstrom employees. The portfolio totals about 4.5 million card accounts on file.
"We are always looking at ways to improve the experience our customers have with us, even regarding details such as how we process our credit transactions," says Kevin T. Knight, chairman and chief executive officer of Nordstrom fsb, president of Nordstrom Credit. "We're pleased to partner with First Data, a company that has such a strong reputation for their technological capabilities and expertise, and has a clear understanding of our strategic needs."
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Circuitcity.com Adds New Site Features and Shopping Tools |
Boosting its commitment to provide shoppers with easy access product information, circuitcity.com announces renewed and expanded alliances with ConsumerReports.org, Popular Photography and Sound & Vision magazines and the expansion of Circuit City's social commerce platform.
"Empowering consumers with the information to find the right product to fit their needs is at the core of the Circuit City business," says Brian S. Bradley, Circuit City's senior vice president, multi-channel. "The Internet is our new 'front door.' More than half of the customers who make purchases in our stores conduct product research beforehand at circuitcity.com."
"To continue to build consumer loyalty and trust, we believe it's imperative to provide industry-leading knowledge resources," added Bradley. "Consumer Reports, Popular Photography and Sound & Vision are clearly the 'gold standards' when it comes to reliable and expert product knowledge and Circuit City is proud to offer these valuable assets to its shoppers."
Circuitcity.com will host an expanded library of Consumer Reports' independent and expert buying advice and a host of new product reports from experts at Popular Photography and Sound & Vision magazines.
In addition to becoming a one-stop destination for research from leading publications, circuitcity.com enables shoppers to share information with each other through the use of blogs, forums, and monthly photo contests.
Using Pluck Corporation's social media platform, CityCenter enables customers to connect with each other and Circuit City associates when considering complex purchases, such as HDTVs, digital cameras, MP3 players and personal computers.
CityCenter community engagement includes:
- More than 5,000 site-wide user contributions per month over the last 90 days
- Active participation in 35 product category forums, including regular and frequent interaction with both Circuit City and firedog staff
- Fifteen topical and contest photo galleries, which have attracted more than 2,500 user-submitted photos
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