Dive Summary:
- A new Steve Madden mobile app aimed at providing customers data on in-store availability for footwear is gaining traction and helping the retailer boost online sales conversions, according to a report.
- Steve Madden is able to currently fill online orders from 85 stores and five warehouses, according to the company president Mark Friedman. “The customers spending across all your retail channels are your best customers, and you need to treat them as such,” Friedman states.
- The company is also planning to re-launch its e-commerce website later in 2013, and will now operate its e-commerce and in-store point of sale systems on the same technology platform hoping to better manage inventory and customer data.
From the article:
The retailer constantly tweaks the algorithm in its order management system to determine the best source of fulfilling online orders, he said. For example, it will adjust the safety stock level of individual products that it keeps in each store based on a store’s local customer demand; if a particular red party shoe is popular in a particular store, it may decide to maintain at least five or 10 pairs in that store, while fulfilling online orders from other stores that offer short shipping distances to the online customer to cut down on shipping costs and delivery times.
