Sporting goods store scores big with new replenishment system
Sporting Goods retailing is often very seasonal. Many times there are categories and product lines that are also very seasonal and these need to
be ordered far in advance. Then they really need to be tracked and analyzed rapidly to effectively manage them and ensure they produce results and
profits, and obtain the most effective use of their seasonal merchandise.
Case Study: Sporting Goods Store:
A 140-unit chain store specializing in licensed apparel and accessories were creating too many unrecoverable lost selling opportunities.
Every night the stores are replenished from a warehouse and urgently needed a computerized system that would keep track of the inventory
at the warehouse. The stores were completely dependent on the warehouse to replenish what each store had sold the day before.
The Solution
After researching possible solutions, the chain store owner decided on Retail Teamwork, an all-in-one solution built on the Microsoft Dynamics
platform.
Among its core business workflow features are applications to manage accounting, inventory, distribution and sales, as well as the ability
to provide analytical reports.
With the old system, they would get their sales information from each store pulled at the end of the night. Then they would have to import
that information from their POS system into their warehouse system, which took approximately several hours.
With Retail Teamwork, they had a live data stream from its main and store-level computer system ... in real time. They no longer had to
wait for the polling process to finish or for the poll data to be processed.
The Results
The stores experienced a 25 percent sales increase, and the owner attributes part of that to the improved replenishment system.
"Replenishment is a huge part of our business and the system gives us an edge on our competition."
The store was also able to stream data into the stores, giving associates the ability to look at the inventory at the warehouse and at
other stores.
To meet one the the chain store's unique needs a customized application within Retail Teamwork was created to let the retailer view and
analyze returns in two different ways: full returns for cash and exchanges.
Retail Teamwork brings all the applications -- accounting software, POS, inventory management, Word documents, spreadsheets -- into one
piece of software, giving a complete front-to-end solution.
"I know the system that I have now is worth much more than what I originally intended to pay."
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