BY PETER BRADLEY, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
MULTICHANNEL FULFILLMENT
specialreport
The iconic outdoor brand revamps its distribution
operations to speed up fulfillment of customer orders.
MULTICHANNEL FULFILLMENT IS NOTHING NEW FOR
Eddie Bauer. The iconic specialty retailer of innovative goods
and clothing for the outdoors—think down jackets, a garment
first developed and patented by the company—was doing
multichannel fulfillment long before the phrase became popular. The company, which built a national following through
its catalog, also operates a network of more than 320 stores,
primarily in malls, around the country.
With a fulfillment operation already designed to handle
both store shipments and unit sales to consumers, the company was better prepared than some brick-and-mortar retailers to adapt to the rapid development of digital sales. But in
the fast-changing world of e-commerce, even the best-estab-lished brands have to make some adjustments.
Now, the company is prepared to take the next step in that
evolution in order to meet the demands of increasingly impatient consumers. Just in time for the fall peak shipping season,
Eddie Bauer is poised to ship up to 90 percent of the orders it
receives on the same day, including Saturday.
Bringing this aggressive fulfillment plan to fruition required
adjustments to operations, IT, and its arrangements with its principal carrier, FedEx. But Steve Venegas, who joined Eddie Bauer
as vice president of distribution for North America last December,
believes that offering rapid fulfillment will give Eddie Bauer a real
competitive advantage.
“Our catalog business is a mainstay for us,” Venegas says. “We
want to continue to compete for market share through the tradition-
al retail footprint, of course, but our direct-to-consumer channel is real-
ly evolving and market share is increasing.”
As for the retailer’s overarching strategy, Venegas says it starts with a focus on new product
development. “We are getting back to our fundamentals as an active, outdoor lifestyle brand. But
it’s really a two-pronged approach. On the back end are our fulfillment services. We want to
strengthen our fulfillment services now.” Customers are won or lost, he believes, on both product
quality and speed of fulfillment. “For distribution, speed to market is our number one priority in
Eddie Bauer
ramps up fulfillment
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