Modell's Uses DOM To Drive Sales

By Bob Johns

October 2013 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

The historic New York sports store chain is using DOM (distributed order management) to increase return customers to 37 percent and better leverage its in-store inventory.

Modell’s is an iconic New York brand that began as one store in lower Manhattan and has grown to more than 150 sporting goods stores throughout the Northeast. Years ago, the company realized the opportunity the Internet offered for e-commerce. So, like many companies that lacked the experience and knowledge of how to run an e-commerce site, it subcontracted the site as a revenue-sharing model to GSI. This model produced revenue for the company, but Modell’s lacked any control over the site and had zero integration with the physical stores. Even the customer database was separate.

Modell’s upper-level management took a look at its competitors and saw what they were doing with e-commerce and how much it can affect everything from brand awareness to top-line sales. They decided it was time to bring the division in-house and integrate it with the brick-and-mortar stores. Not having an e-commerce department made the process of selecting a website provider and order management solution a little more difficult. Led by a consultant, the VP of technology, and the SVP of operations, a team of personnel from technology, operations, and finance began investigating and vetting solutions for both the front end (hosting and design) and the back end (distributed order management). The process took more than a year, but the team finally decided on MarketLive for the site hosting and design, and Shopatron for the distributed order management.