19 April 2016, USA :
eBay Enterprise has completed its merger with Innotrac Corp., creating a new, private company called Radial that provides technology and related services for online retailers, including payments, fulfillment, logistics and customer service.
Sterling Partners, the Innovac parent company which purchased eBay Enterprise in November 2015, had previously announced the two companies would be combined.
Footwear retailer DSW is one of the first retailers to deploy technology from the new provider, using it to support all facets of its omnichannel commerce effort.
Using Radial technology, DSW can seamless manage activities such as order management and routing, payment processing, fulfillment, and analytics. Scalable fulfillment and freight services enable orders to be fulfilled faster according to customer need, while optimizing costs. A large store of historical transaction data helps minimize online fraud risk, and omnichannel customer service support is also offered.
“Providing an exceptional customer experience is our top priority, and we are continually innovating to deliver on that,” said Brian Seewald, VP, transformation, DSW. “Our commerce experience is fully enabled with Radial’s omnichannel fulfillment technologies including ship-from-store, in-store pickup, ship-to-store and dropship. Radial isn’t just a technology innovator; it is an ecommerce expert that is helping us unlock growth, reduce costs, and deliver what today’s retail customers expect.”
DSW began offering omnichannel customer services in 2011 with the creation of Shoephoria, a proprietary stock locator tool that uses inventory at its fulfillment center to meet store orders. Two years later, DSW added ship-from-store and dropship capabilities. The retailer’s previous deployment of eBay Enterprise in-store-pickup and ship-to-store, and current rollout of the full Radial plarform, represents its continued efforts to stay current with the evolution of seamless customer experience. In-store pickup and ship-from-store for online orders are now becoming table stakes for effective customer service as “omnichannel” retail continues turning into everyday retailing that consumers consider part of the normal shopping experience.
The combined company will be headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, though it operates two dozen distribution centers and six call centers in the U.S., Canada and Europe with the help of its 7,000 employees. Its customers include the likes of DSW, GameStop, Shoe Carnival and Destination XL.
Image : chainstoreage.com