Electronic ordering: two sporting goods chains moved off hand-keyed orders

What it is

When Khounlavong took over MC Sports and Dunham's, reps were still keying orders in by hand. Nike did not have a good read on how it was performing in their doors, and bookings were inconsistent. The retailers were not maximizing styles that performed and were sitting on old inventory.

He named the obstacles as changing mindsets, the time it takes to learn new practices, and the cost of doing business. Some groundwork existed. A 2005 plan notes that EDI and replenishment were already in place at MC Sports for licensed product, and a May 2006 profile lists Dunham's as capable of both. Three systems were involved. Nike.net was Nike's ordering site for retailers. EDI, electronic data interchange, was order entry between the two companies' systems. Edifice was the tool for sharing retail performance data.

What Khounlavong did

• Explained Nike.net and Excel order upload to retailers at the first meeting, and sent an Order Placement Guidelines sheet with each seasonal packet.
• Set a fiscal 2005 goal of 90% compliance with Nike.net ordering among his Cleveland sporting goods accounts.
• Wrote EDI and replenishment into the three-year plans for both chains with his account team counterparts, under the objective to be easy to do business with.
• Used three levers to persuade the retailers: partnership, profitability and time saved. He asked them to change point of sale systems, install EDI order entry and add Nike.net to their tools.
• Presented mutual business planning and information sharing through Edifice, and told the retailers the exposure was on both parties and necessary.
• Started a tech sheet information sharing program. Seasonal tech sheets went to Dunham's for manager training and to MC Sports for its Impact Books.
• Managed Edifice for both accounts in fiscal 2009, working with a Nike planner to make the information digestible.
• Planned direct shipments with musical size runs for MC Sports for spring 2010, plus a sales program tracking process and a new order tracking process.
• Wrote a Nike.net order entry "How To" document for his teammates in fall 2009, to make the move easier for their retailers.

Results

• 85% of spring 2005 futures orders were entered through Nike.net, recorded August 18, 2004.
• More than 90% of his 2004 account base signed up for Nike.net.
• Both MC Sports and Dunham's were placing orders by EDI. The Dunham's plan marked EDI and replenishment complete by spring 2007.
• Both accounts were up and running on Edifice, and the reps were selling in with quantitative and qualitative data.
• Both accounts used Nike.net for fill-in orders, images and order tracking.
• MC Sports began giving its stores a monthly playbook with merchandising strategies and product technology information.
• Puffer Red's, an independent retailer in his account base, invested in a new point of sale system.
• All of his past retailers placed their orders on Nike.net, by his 2011 account.

At a glance