Exel

Case Study

E-COMMERCE FULFILLMENT

Warehousing, order fulfillment solution brightens holiday for leading toy retailer

Retail

Challenge

Take back ownership of web site Improve customer online experience Capitalize on peak shopping season

Holidays can make or break a year for most retailers. Nowhere is this peak season more dramatic than in the toy industry. One of the nation’s leading toy retailers generates as much as 50 percent of its sales in the fourth quarter alone, and a growing percentage of that business is being done online. When the third-party provider for this company’s online store began reducing the prominence of its products and promoting rival retailers, this industry leader knew it had to make changes to its online channel. A new approach would not only give top billing to the retailer’s highest demand products, it would also provide the opportunity to significantly expand the online offering and extend the ordering window to allow customers to order online as late as December 23. Achieving revenue and service objectives meant the retailer needed to gain more direct control of its web ordering, customer service and fulfillment operations. To that end, the company terminated its third-party relationship and launched an aggressive seven-month effort to create a completely new infrastructure to support its online business. The high-profile break up created extra pressure, as the transition was being closely monitored by management, investors, analysts and the media. The Challenge The plan, in short, was to redesign the retailer’s online business platform. Exel was called on to provide warehousing and fulfillment services as part of that plan, as well as play a crucial role in the development of the data and process interface between the customer and its online call center provider. The plan and schedule would need to include co-location of partner resources to ensure a smooth and quick integration. The build-out plan would need to minimize...