Staples upgrades to PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management 9.0. The office products company uses PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management 9.0 to roll out a long-term strategy to better deploy, monitor and manage talent. This technology will help Staples strategically manage talent, from staffing to individual performance, according to business objectives.

The company also is running an Oracle Database and will deploy PeopleSoft Enterprise Time and Labor to reduce gross payroll costs through automated time capture and pay rate calculations.

Staples also plans to identify, plan, observe, improve and reward performance with PeopleSoft Enterprise ePerformance, a Web-deployed solution that simplifies the appraisal aspect of the performance management process, from planning goals and coaching to assessing performance and rewards.

"Upgrading to PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management 9.0 was key in helping us strategically address important operational business objectives. Our upgrade was completed on time and on budget, enabling us to quickly begin gaining benefits from the integrated talent management and end-to-end workforce management system. As we continue to take our workforce management transformation to the next level, we'll be closer to ultimately enhancing the overall shopping experience for customers in our stores," said Staples Director of HR Systems, Bob Solomon.

Lucy activewear, a lifestyle apparel company for women, selects the Demandware E-Commerce Platform to enhance its online shopping experience for consumers and to expand its growing cross-channel business.

The lucy brand’s Web site, launched in 1999, has been a key channel for delivering solutions to consumers searching for lifestyle apparel. Since re-launching in 2004, the lucy brand’s online business has more than doubled. To support its continued online growth, lucy activewear is partnering with Demandware, which will deliver merchandising capabilities and manage the hardware and maintenance for the site. The lucy brand expects to launch its enhanced site near the end of 2008.

“Our e-commerce site is a key sales channel for the lucy brand, as approximately 50 percent of our in-store customers also visit us online. In fact, many of our customers come into the store with printouts of outfits that are showcased on the site,” said Rebecca Taubman, director of e-commerce for lucy. “As traffic to our Web site continues to increase, our enhanced Web site and platform will enable us to offer customers a sophisticated, stress-free shopping experience, as well as targeted cross-channel promotions and guaranteed availability.”

Zappos.com Implements Mobile Fulfillment System

Online retailer Zappos.com implements the Kiva Mobile Fulfillment System in four months. Zappos has deployed a fleet of Kiva's mobile robotic drive units and inventory storage pods at its Shepherdsville, Ky. facility to support their rapid order growth and expansion into new categories such as apparel, sportswear and accessories.

"Virtually all the previous automation system deployments I've overseen took a year or more to design, build and test," said Craig Adkins, vice president of fulfillment operations, Zappos.com. "We were amazed that Kiva transformed our new warehouse from bare concrete to fully operational readiness with trained supervisors and associates just four months after we signed the purchase order. We're already working on designs to cube out the building with Kiva's MFS on multi-level mezzanines."

With an emphasis on e-commerce orders requiring split-case picking, the Zappos.com distribution center needs to manage a huge range of unique products, while shipping orders as quickly as possible. The Kiva MFS helps inventory to manage itself, and transforms the DC from a serial-process operation to a massively parallel processing order fulfillment engine. As a result, the Kiva MFS helps breakthrough improvements over generally accepted material handling benchmarks, including order picking speed, order accuracy, volume scalability and flexibility in reconfiguring operations or responding to market changes.

Kings Supermarkets Personalize Web Site Experience for Customers

Kings Supermarkets teams up with Grocery Shopping Network to offer Kings' customers everything they need to plan their shopping trip and create a customized shopping list. On the Web site, customers find an interactive weekly ad linked to thousands of recipes, meal and product suggestions, in-store specials, cooking videos, coupons and more. Those customers with a Kings' loyalty card are able to view a new, personalized grocery ad every week, 'My Personalized Specials.' The 'My Personalized Specials' section of the Web site contains product specials that are specific and relevant to each household's unique shopping needs.

"The Web site is an exceptional tool enabling our customers to save time and money," says Cheryl Good, Manager, Community Relations/Consumer Affairs at Kings Supermarkets. "They can discover all the store's offers before walking the aisles. The site allows customers to easily create a shopping list full of relevant products, coupons, and specials - both advertised and unadvertised - without having to access multiple sources."