The US`s largest consumer co-operative, a $587 million retailer of outdoor gear and clothing, uses strategic merchandising management to decrease its operational costs, increase productivity and improve the quality and accuracy of its information.
Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI) sought `a single version of the truth` and an enterprise approach to managing their merchandising operation. As a result of their success with the Arthur Financial Planning solution from JDA, an international provider of enterprise retail solutions, REI chose to implement the entire Arthur Enterprise Suite (AES).
Mike McCarty, REI`s Planning Manager, Merchandising, says they are already reaping the benefits of JDA`s AES of strategic merchandise management applications. The solution is decreasing REI`s operational expenses, increasing productivity and improving the quality, quantity, accuracy and timeliness of information throughout the enterprise.
The AES is powered by the Arthur Information Manager (AIM) database which facilitates the integration and enhances the performance of the AES applications.
McCarty says: "The Arthur products are key to integrating and simplifying our financial and assortment planning systems. Additionally, we view AIM as our universal merchandising database that will provide data down to the lowest level needed and ensure that everyone has the same up-to-date information for decision making."
According to McCarty, REI is already realising a number of benefits from the AES, including improved profitability of individual stores and customer satisfaction through a better store merchandise mix; information that they need, when they need it; better service from their vendors; and a single version of the truth which recognises REI`s uniqueness.
Through analysis, REI was able to identify both similar and unique buying habits across geographically different stores. The retailer can now cluster stores by similar attributes to better meet customer needs and optimise inventory levels.
Everyone in REI`s merchandising department, from the vice president to the merchandise assistant, now also has instant access to information online and no longer has to depend on circulated hard copy reports.
In addition, because the Arthur systems are so flexible, each user can create personal views unique to their responsibilities and information needs without effecting data integrity. This is critical for a retailer that buys everything from fashions to flashlights.
By making strategic merchandising decisions, REI is more efficiently managing its business and maximising their return on investment in the Arthur products.
Prior to consolidating its disparate systems with JDA`s AES, REI had followed a `more is better` approach for its merchandising applications.
With over 50 retail stores, Online (rei.com), catalogues, and 1.6 million active members, REI had compiled numerous solutions from a variety of vendors plus a proliferation of internally built applications to address specific requirements.
In addition to less than ideal productivity among users caused by sharing data from disparate systems, REI incurred significant expenses from supporting the non-integrated platforms. With JDA`s AES, REI not only consolidated its disparate systems but substantially reduced the number of interfaces and overall IS support resources.
JDA is represented by Dimension Data i-Commerce Software locally.
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Dimension Data
Dimension Data Holdings Limited is a global Information Technology Integration corporation based in Sandton, South Africa. The company which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, has a turnover of approximately US$1.5 billion. The Group has representation on five continents and operates out of 36 countries. The Group has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 98% in turnover and 57% in headline earnings per share over the past 5 years. The Group is focussed on communications/ networking infrastructure and electronic commerce software applications, two of the highest growth sectors of the information economy.
JDA Software
JDA Software Group is a global provider of integrated retail software products and professional services for more than 600 clients worldwide.
Designed to optimise the retail enterprise, JDA`s solution addresses the requirements for the entire retail supply chain: from corporate with merchandising, planning, allocation, decision support and financial systems; to the distribution center with warehouse management and logistics systems; at the store with point-of-sale and back-office applications; and on the Internet with Web-based solutions.
Founded in 1985, JDA employs more than 1 100 associates operating from 20 offices worldwide. With headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company has offices in major cities throughout the United States as well as internationally in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Singapore, and Australia.