CRM Sears
Online Sears Roebuck Co
According to
William Christopher, chief of customer care and vice president of
CRM Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co, “No doubt overall
customer lifetime value is important to all companies in today’s
scenario. But losing even a single customer can cost a business a
great deal of money over time”. Speaking at
Washington on 11 May
2001 at Customer
360, he outlined the important role a strong operational
infrastructure played in CRM Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co
digital strategy.
"We are still
not where we need to be," Christopher said, referring to CRM Sears
Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co infrastructure, which he said the
company is still fine-tuning. With its digital strategy, CRM Sears
Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co set out to integrate its Web efforts
with its brick-and-mortar stores and become a premier
bricks-and-clicks retailer. The company has 45 different contact
centers and 3000 retail locations.
To leverage all
its customer touch points, CRM Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co
tries to take advantage of different opportunities in its various
dealings with customers. For example, its credit division features
online bill payment and presentation and its Web site offers expert
advice and product reviews. The site also integrates with in-store
kiosks and a partnership with America Online allows Sears to have a
keyword that directs AOL members to its site.
To get
everything to work right and appear seamless to the customer, CRM
Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co had to integrate its existing
legacy systems, including credit, accounting, and inventory,
replenishing, point-of-sale, pricing and merchandising. CRM Sears
Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co uses a BroadVision platform for its
e-commerce efforts. Most of its Web sites are on Sears' own servers,
but several are still outsourced.
The company
Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co also selected Witness and TCS
for performance management; Sigma Micro, BroadVision and E.piphany
for order entry; Octane for e-mail management; and E.piphany,
BroadVision, Pega, LCI and Siemens for e-CRM efforts. For customer
self-service, CRM Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co uses Mercado
to power its search engine.
E.piphany
allows CRM Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co to conduct
analysis, segmentation and campaign management. Its business rules,
collaborative filtering, real-time mining and agent assist functions
are very valuable. The rewards are evident and CRM Sears Online,
Sears, Roebuck & Co revenue grew 400% in 2000.
While the
technology may all sound very complicated, it simplifies
transactions for the customer, Christopher said. To further ease
transactions, CRM Sears Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co is now
conducting a pilot program, which allows customers to buy products
online and pick them up in stores, which some other click-and-mortar
retailers already provide.
CRM Sears
Online, Sears, Roebuck & Co will also expand its current
integration from just "bricks and clicks" to catalogs and
direct-marketed merchandise.
