DSW ups the omni-channel ante
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Designer Shoe Warehouse will use VendorNet’s StoreNet Live tool to strengthen its e-commerce position by improving fulfillment for online sales.
DSW’s deal with VendorNet will improve its competitive position against footwear and accessories e-retailers such as Shoes.com and Amazon-owned Zappos.com. By using VendorNet’s StoreNet’s ship-from-store offering to use its fleet of 364 stores as direct-to-consumer fulfillment locations, DSW will leverage store inventory and personnel to fulfill store and online orders, and recapture sales they would have lost due to out-of-stock items.
The footwear and accessories retailer will also use StoreNet to sell-through select store merchandise at higher margins based on specific criteria, such as end-of-life products. The company will also deploy VendorNet Dropship Manager to further enhance product assortment and availability for its customers.
“With today’s consumers being more powerful than the purveyor of goods, out-of-stocks are unacceptable; customers will go elsewhere,” said stated Roger Rawlins, SVP of e-commerce, and leader of omni-channel initiatives at DSW. “We want to offer our customers universal inventory availability which is central to our omni-channel mantra ‘any shoe, anywhere, anytime.’ Deploying StoreNet will be a major milestone in making this mantra a reality.”
VendorNet is a wholly owned subsidiary of GSI Commerce, an eBay Inc. company, and therefore an ideal omni-channel solutions partner for a retailer that is determined to stake its claim as a serious omni-channel retail contender. “At the end of the day, we found that StoreNet is hands-down the best solution for our store associates. Plus, it’s the closest turnkey omni-channel solution in the marketplace requiring little to no customization,” added Rawlins.
“DSW is methodically establishing the technical, cultural and operational foundation that must be embraced to succeed in this new era of omni-channel commerce,” said Sharon Gardner, GM and co-founder of VendorNet. “We are pleased to be chosen as DSW’s omni-channel technology partner. We believe this initiative will drive incremental sales, improve inventory productivity, reduce unnecessary markdowns and enhance the customer experience. With DSW’s Rewards Program growing to 21 million members today, customers value the DSW shopping experience and we are honored to be a part of it.”