Men's sportswear manufacturer selects software to handle label's growth
Glendale, CA — May 17, 2005 — Sean John, manufacturer of a line of men's contemporary sportswear with 2004 sales exceeding $300 million, said it has selected One Step Data Inc. to build a point-of-sale (POS) and inventory system to manage the label's impressive growth.
The Sean John label has been in existence since 1998. In August 2004, the company opened its first retail outlet in New York and has since planned an aggressive expansion over the next 18 to 24 months. Currently the line is sold through almost 2,000 wholesale distribution points in the United States.
To deal with the logistics of the clothing line's growth, Sean John implemented a POS and inventory control software system, teaming up with retail systems integrator, One Step Data Inc.
"The opening of our first store has exceeded projections," said Charles Soriano, vice president of Retail for Sean John. "This is the first of a planned 12 to 15 stores that we will be opening within the next several years."
Committed to the expansion and growth of the men's marketplace, and maintaining a dominant position within it, the company understood the necessity to have a logistics system for the warehousing, inventory, distribution and retail sales management operations for the product line.
Sean John began by purchasing a POS unit from IBM, the SurePOS 563. For the software, Soriano said Sean John was looking for a well-rounded application that could not only handle POS at the store, but could also handle inventory management for the warehouse, and perform merchandise analysis.
After reviewing a number of options, the company selected One Step Data to configure a system to meet its requirements, using Retail Pro POS/inventory software. Retail Pro is used by small- to medium-sized specialty retailers throughout the world.
Soriano explained that Sean Jean went with the Retail Pro Merchant Edition, which is the provider's full application, plus the Retail Pro Extension Suite, which offered a menu of expanded customer relationship management (CRM)-type applications. "I have worked in the industry for some time and have used many retail management programs, and I believe that customer loyalty modules are tantamount to a successful business," he said. "We like to know exactly where our customers are coming from, and what they are buying."
Soriano added: "Understanding who your customers are, what they want and how they buy is crucial information for any retailer if they want to grow their business. That has always been a challenge retailers have faced in this business — collection of information, and understanding how to configure and manipulate your system to get the numbers that you need to analyze your business, your situation and the ability to access that information easily. This capability is valuable to a retailer."
The Retail Pro Merchant Edition provides Sean Jean with point of sale, inventory control, and customer relations functions, as well as additional special functions, such as electronic data interchange (EDI) and multi-store management tools. The One Step Data Extension Suite for Sean John provides additional CRM features, such as automated price levels, customer mapping and automated price levels.
"We worked closely with Sean John to design the exact system requirements that they needed," said Scott Kreisberg, president of One Step Data. "Sean John's system was designed for scalability and growth. It works for their one-store and inventory operations now, but is also versatile in application within a multiple-store architecture, which they are planning to develop. As a retailer's needs change, the software also allows for us to provide custom programming."
Soriano concluded, "We feel that this system has not only serviced our needs well on the retail operations side, but has also serviced our needs on the financial end with a strong return on investment."
The Sean John label is the creation of Sean John Combs, alias "P. Diddy." It is geared toward men ages 15 to 40, consisting of a range of lifestyle sportswear and accessories. Later this year, Sean John expects to launch its women's collection, men's fragrance and men's footwear lines.
