Retailer to use e-sourcing solution from TradeStone to automate international efforts, reduce costs
Gloucester, MA — March 10, 2004 — The Children's Place Retail Stores is set to use a collaborative e-sourcing solution from TradeStone Software to automate its international sourcing.
Children's Place operates nearly 700 stores in the United States and Canada, offering its own branded apparel and accessories for children. The company designs its products and contracts out the manufacturing of its good.
TradeStone said its SteppingStones Suite provides e-sourcing technology for the global sourcing market. The Web-based solution uses Web services technology to support such functional areas of international buying and selling as the request for quote (RFQ) process, order management, track-and-trace visibility, compliance certainty and payment processing.
Ed DeMartino, chief information officer of The Children's Place, said that his company selected TradeStone's software to help it more effectively collaborate with global suppliers, improve its visibility into the pre- and post-shipment supply chain and to replace legacy sourcing systems on a fill-in-the-gaps basis.
"Using TradeStone's SteppingStones Suite should allow us to reduce the cost of merchandise and transportation, improve our back office productivity, and reduce markdowns," DeMartino said.
This retail customer win for TradeStone follows the recent announcement that off-price retailer Ocean State Job Lot will be implementing SteppingStones for global e-sourcing.
Sue Welch, president and CEO of TradeStone, suggested that the company's customer wins have come, at least in part, because the provider's solutions work with existing technology and leverage the Internet for collaboration with global suppliers. "We're seeing rapid adoption by companies who view streamlining international trade as their key to competitiveness," Welch said.
