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In replacing an outdated legacy system, the outdoor apparel retailer turned to a new supply chain solution to improve customer service and reduce logistics costs.
As they target multiple distribution channels as a key business strategy, apparel retailers are seeking better ways to improve customer service while minimizing logistics costs.
One solution is to integrate order management and order. fulfillment across multiple distribution channels, such as retail stores, catalogs and the Internet.
Sidney, NE-based Cabela's Inc., outfitter of hunters and outdoorsmen, is rolling out an IT system that integrates these three distribution channels and provides broader supply chain visibility.
Cabela's CIO Larry Popps says the retailer's previous order management system was oriented toward its catalog and Web distribution channels, but not its retail outlets.
The retailer, with roots in catalog sales, faced a difficult dilemma: Its legacy system was developed between 15 and 20 years ago, before the firm had retail stores.
"One of our main objectives was to find a flexible solution that would integrate the customer ordering process over all of the distribution channels," Popps says. "The problem was that we did not have global inventory visibility. For example, when a customer in New York placed an order, it would be processed in the Wheeling, WV, distribution center....