Archive for the ‘Software’ Category

Monetate renews contract with men’s apparel retailer

Monetate, a vendor of choice for testing, targeting, and personalization for eCommerce websites, announced today the renewal of its contract with Casual Male Retail Group, the largest retailer of big and tall men’s apparel with operations throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

“Monetate is delighted that Casual Male Retail Group chose to renew its contract going into the 2010 holiday season,” said David Brussin, Founder and CEO of Monetate. “We feel this is a vote of confidence in the performance and reliability of Monetate’s marketing technology as well as the quality of our client support services.”

According to Ric Della Bernarda, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Casual Male Retail Group, “Monetate continues to drive incremental revenue for us because of the exceptional testing and targeting features that it provides; with Monetate on our websites we have the ability to deliver relevant and personalized content to all of our visitors, throughout their online shopping experience.”

Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. is the largest retailer of big and tall men’s apparel with operations throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. operates 454 Casual Male XL retail and outlet stores, 19 Rochester Clothing stores, 4 Destination XL stores and direct to consumer businesses which include several catalogs and eCommerce sites.


A Tale of Two Mice

For a couple of years now, I have used a Logitech V470 mouse. It is a laser mouse that uses bluetooth. I’ve used it with a black MacBook and two MacBook Pros and it has always worked perfectly. The only negative I could ever give it is that it is a little small for my hand (but I have large hands, I wear x-large gloves.) However, years of heavy use have taken their toll on the mouse, and I decided it was time to replace it.

This picture shows the V470 in the front, and its replacement a Targus AMB09US which they call “Comfort Laser Mouse.” Why did I pick the Targus? Well it is also a laser mouse that uses bluetooth. I read many a rave review, so I figured it was just as good of a mouse as my V470. It is a bigger mouse, as manufacturers have started realizing that just because I want a bluetooth mouse does not mean that I want a “travel” (small) mouse. However, after several weeks of use, here is what my desk looks like:

Yep, the old V470 is back, despite being chipped and have plastic peeling off of it. The Targus mouse is just not as good for several reasons. Its interaction with my MacBook Pro is buggy. Often the cursor on the screen does not change as it should (imagine web pages where you don’t get the little hand to indicate a link). The sensitivity of its sensitivity is way too high. What I mean is that a slight adjustment in sensitivity has huge effects. It is either sluggish or spastic. I’ve tried adding a mousepad to the mix, but it only helped a little. Finally, it does weird things when interacting with OSX. I hide my Dock on the left of the screen. If I put the cursor over there, then the Dock appears as it should. However, if I roll over items in the Dock, they are not magnified as they should be. I can still click on them, but this messes with me and makes me think too much when I just want to launch something from the Dock. Also, I actually missed horizontal scrolling with the V470. Its wheel could move left/right to allow for horizontal scrolling. The Targus mouse does not have this feature, and I didn’t think I’d miss it. However, I did not realize how often I actually used this, especially in Aperture and OmniGraffle.

Now I know that many/most of these problems may have as much to do with OSX as with the Targus mouse. But I don’t care. I’m not going to switch operating systems. Instead I will switch mice. I’d really like to get a larger version of the V470, which is why I have not just bought a new V470 and continue to use my old beat-up one. At some point I will probably give in and just buy a new V470.

‘RFID-Out-of-the-Box’ solution for apparel retailers

Checkpoint Systems Inc, a leading global supplier of shrink management, merchandise visibility and apparel labeling solutions for the retail industry and its supply chain, announced an “out-of-the-box” Handheld Visibility Solution for closed-loop apparel retailers and department stores to easily prove the return on investment and obtain a starting point for a global merchandise visibility deployment.

Apparel retailers face a variety of challenges that impact sales and margins daily, including global apparel out-of-stocks averaging eight percent or more, perpetual inventory that is inaccurate 35-65 percent of the time, and reduced sales due to out-of-stocks.

RFID solutions, such as Checkpoint’s Merchandise Visibility Solution, can help retailers reduce out-of-stocks while increasing sales and maximizing shelf availability — and many apparel retailers are looking for cost-effective ways to start achieving these benefits and deploy globally in a low-risk way.

“We created Checkpoint’s Handheld Visibility Solution for apparel retailers that want to prove the value of merchandise visibility to reduce out-of-stocks and increase sales,” noted Per Levin, Checkpoint Systems’ Worldwide President, Merchandise Visibility. “This solution is designed as an ideal first step for retailers that want to work with a partner that has the capabilities to implement a global rollout, including source tagging, in-store deployment and support, hardware and software.”

“In this initial phase to help prove the value of RFID, the solution can be deployed without impacting retailers’ IT systems or networks, and it also minimizes the impact on store operations, resulting in rapid time-to-productivity,” explained Prasad Putta, Checkpoint Systems’ Executive Vice President, Merchandise Visibility.


Bon-Ton boosts holiday purchases with IBM Software

IBM announced that the Bon-Ton Stores Inc website has experienced a double-digit increase in sales using IBM software to advance its online and mobile commerce initiatives.

Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. and its seven brands — Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers, sell leading brands in apparel, cosmetics and home furnishings. These stores are using IBM WebSphere Commerce software to enhance customers’ online shopping experience by proposing relevant products and automatically providing coupons and discounts based on customer preferences. For instance, when a shopper puts a sweater in their online shopping cart, Bon-Ton’s new site is able to identify shoes, accessories and pants to complete the order. Loyal customers can receive coupons and discounts automatically during the checkout process.

This holiday season, online sales are outpacing all other retail sales channels. According to the third annual Cyber Monday Benchmark Report delivered by Coremetrics, an IBM company, online sales are up 19.4 percent with consumers pushing the average order value up from $180.03 to $194.89 for an increase of 8.3 percent.

Consequently, stores are using e-commerce technology to take advantage of online sales channels. Within a few months of launching, Bon-Ton’s new online store became its top-selling location in several merchandise categories. This trend is expected to expand over the next twelve months.

Bon-Ton’s new website is able to develop targeted marketing campaigns tailoring the shopping experience for specific customer segments using new media capabilities and mobile coupons. For instance, during this year’s winter formal season, Bon-Ton is targeting teen shoppers across multiple sales channels. Teens can try on formal dresses in the store, receive a mobile coupon delivered to their smart phones, share photos of their favorite dresses with their family and friends via any social networking site and complete their purchases in the store or online.


PUMA uses Menlo Worldwide’s 3PL services

Menlo Worldwide Logistics the global logistics subsidiary of Con-way Inc, announced a new contract with PUMA to provide warehousing and inventory management and domestic delivery in Singapore. PUMA is one of the world’s leading sport lifestyle companies that designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories.

In addition to overseeing domestic distribution in Singapore for PUMA, Menlo will manage 21,000 square feet of rack/shelving space at a multi-client warehouse located in Boon Lay Way, Singapore. The scope of the logistics management relationship includes domestic transportation, the use of Menlo’s warehouse management system (SIMS), as well as a range of value-added services such as price tagging for retail distribution points, returns management and tendering orders for overseas shipments.

“We were looking for a provider with an established presence in Singapore and the ability to offer innovative solutions to improve customer service, on-time delivery and order fulfillment,” said Sheryl Wong, general manager, PUMA Singapore. “Menlo provides not just the technical capabilities but also leverages their experience in the Singapore market to better manage the complex global supply chain needs of companies like ours.”

“PUMA needed an experienced third-party logistics provider in Singapore that could enhance operational efficiency, inventory visibility and turnaround time,” said Desmond Chan, managing director, South Asia, Menlo Worldwide Logistics. “Our multi-client facility in Boon Lay Way provides PUMA with a tried and tested solution that offers best-in-class logistics services designed and managed to improve warehouse operations and domestic delivery.”

Menlo’s multi-client warehouse management solution offers flexibility in contract commitment length, the ability to share existing IT platforms, an experienced management and labor infrastructure, requisite equipment and assets, and a more extensive geographic network of pre-configured warehouse operations.


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