Stores Can Be Ultimate Merchandise “Lockers” for Shoppers Looking to Avoid Online Purchase Delivery Hassles

DULUTH, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) and VendorNet today announced the companies have completed the integration of the VendorNet® StoreNet® In-store Pickup fulfillment technology with NCR Advanced Store point-of-sale (POS) software. This consumer-focused functionality makes online shopping and in-store pickup easy.

“Retailers pick locations because they are convenient to their shoppers’ homes and workplaces”

Online-only retailers are expanding “locker” type pick-up locations to serve the growing number of shoppers for whom work or home delivery is impossible or inconvenient. This twist in the evolution of shopping highlights opportunities retailers have to turn their stores into the ultimate merchandise lockers by integrating their online and in-store inventory and offering in-store pick-up, return and exchange services for online orders with NCR Advanced Store.

A 2011 survey, conducted by Compete, showed 70 percent of respondents cited cost savings and 30 percent of respondents cited the immediate desire for the product as the top two reasons they use in-store pickup. Many shoppers also find misdirected packages, pickup at inconvenient post office locations and packages stolen from the drop-off point to be significant challenges.

Also driving the need for in-store pickup are the increasing policies companies are implementing against employees receiving non-work-related packages at work, eliminating for many online shoppers the main avenue for ensuring quick and secure delivery of online purchases.

“Our partnership with NCR delivers on consumer’s top motivators for in-store pickup – cost savings and convenience,” stated Sharon Gardner, general manager of VendorNet.

“Retailers pick locations because they are convenient to their shoppers’ homes and workplaces,” said Scott Kingsfield, senior vice president and general manager, NCR retail. “By leveraging these convenient locations, the breadth of in-store inventory, their trusted brand names and the convergence of the online and in-store shopping experience, retailers now have an advantage over online-only outlets that are finding it harder to get products to their customers via traditional delivery methods.”

Retailers who offer online ordering and utilize store inventory for fulfillment also have a chance to increase sales, create up-sell opportunities and build customer loyalty and repeat business.

The integrated NCR and VendorNet software supports the entire “buy online/pickup in-store” process through:

Online visibility and tracking of in-store inventory
Simple and intuitive in-store fulfillment process
Mobile-enabled merchandise pick list for store associates
Email alerts to notify the shopper that an item is ready for pickup
Bin location lookup for store associates to locate the shopper’s online order
Flexible order lookup and fast checkout at the POS
Corporate dashboard for:
- Real time, corporate-wide view (at all stores) of order statuses
- Robust reporting including: store fill rate reporting and inventory discrepancies
- Business rules maintenance (enabled stores, product safety levels/eligibility etc.)

“Our joint solution focuses on simplicity and intelligence at the store level. By integrating StoreNet’s In-store Pickup technology with NCR’s Advanced Store POS technology, we have streamlined the in-store fulfillment process for both the customer and store associates. Store associates follow an intuitive process for picking and staging orders. Customer pickups are handled on any NCR POS device in the store to drive faster checkout and customer convenience. It is seamless omni-channel POS fulfillment,” said Gardner.

The integration also enables NCR to leverage VendorNet’s StoreNet Ship-from Store and Dropship Manager technologies. StoreNet Ship-from Store allows retailers to optimize inventory and minimize out-of-stock items by exposing store inventory for online sales and enabling stores to transparently fulfill online orders direct to the consumer. Dropship Manager automates order processing, shipping, and invoicing with dropship suppliers, facilitates testing of new products, and increases product assortment without the risk of inventory overhead.

About VendorNet

VendorNet (www.vendornet.com) delivers web-based omni-retailing and supply chain solutions that enable intelligent cross-channel commerce by integrating and routing orders from all sales channels to the best-source fulfillment location including warehouses, suppliers, and brick and mortar stores. These solutions optimize inventory usage and visibility, decrease order delivery time and expense, improve customer loyalty and satisfaction, and increase sales. More than 200 retailers and over 25,000 suppliers, warehouses, and stores are leveraging VendorNet solutions. Retail clients include Nine West, CompUSA, Neiman Marcus, David’s Bridal, Toys“R”Us, Orvis, National Geographic, Rue La La, Saks Fifth Avenue, Liz Claiborne, and Guitar Center. VendorNet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GSI Commerce. GSI Commerce is an eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) company.

About NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a global technology company leading how the world connects, interacts and transacts with business. NCR’s assisted- and self-service solutions and comprehensive support services address the needs of retail, financial, travel, hospitality, gaming, public sector, telecom carrier and equipment organizations in more than 100 countries. NCR (www.ncr.com) is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

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