Posted with permission from Integrated Solutions For Retailers. Copyrighted 2006. For subscription information, call (814) 868-9935 or visit www.ISMRetail.com.
#1-18355272 Managed by Reprint Management Services, 717.399.1900. To request a quote online, visit www.reprintbuyer.com.
OCTOBER 2006
www.ISMRetail.com
Fans attending sporting events seek to
quickly purchase merchandise before
and after the event, as well as during
breaks. For retailers, having a speedy
POS system, swift inventory replenish-
ment, and attentive customer service
representatives are the key factors in
keeping fans happy. The Seattle
Mariners are no exception to this rule.
The Mariners have six team stores in
the Seattle area and one within the
Safeco ballpark. The team also sells
select merchandise at several walk-up
kiosk counters within the arena. During
each home game, the ballpark store,
which has direct street access and
opens prior to the stadium gates, han-
dles 3,000 to 5,000 merchandise trans-
actions, 60% of which occur prior to
the first pitch. The Mariners franchise
needed a POS system that could handle
a high number of transactions at peak
times. Also, in order to have the proper
assortment of trendy merchandise at
specific locations, it needed to stream-
line processes at its DC, which supplies
all retail locations. Finally, the retailer
sought to generate detailed reports on
sales, inventory, and profit information.
The retailer’s POS system used a dial-
up connection for credit card process-
ing, and it failed to track detailed prod-
uct information, such as size, color, and
style. Finally, the warehouse system
required a manual process for store
replenishment, which was tricky at ball-
park locations when back-to-back
home games occurred. Therefore, the
Mariners’ Senior Retail Director Jim
LaShell searched for new solutions.
Wanting
to
transfer
information
between the front and back office, he
chose the POS, merchandising, and
warehouse systems from Epicor|CRS.
The solution was deployed using
some of the retailer’s exis