InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

SubmitOrder.com, launched in July, has positioned itself as an E-commerce services provider, offering strategic planning, Web-site development, inventory-management, order-fulfillment, distribution, call-center, and processing services. The company, formerly known as Digital Storage, has been providing fulfillment services to brick-and-mortar companies since 1986.

The Barksdale Group invested in SubmitOrder.com because it sees significant opportunities for E-fulfillment services, says Daniel Rimer, a partner at the investment company. "A lot of the E-commerce sites today are very good at selling their merchandise online but have problems fulfilling those orders on the back end," he says.

SubmitOrder.com has learned that many Web businesses don't have the ability to gauge traffic and subsequent sales volumes. "These companies don't have historical data, and we can help them with that," says J.T. Kreager, president of SubmitOrder.com.

Zany Brainy Inc., an online retailer of educational toys, is one of SubmitOrder.com's eight E-fulfillment customers. SubmitOrder.com handles customer service, order fulfillment, and product distribution for Zany Brainy's E-commerce site. Those services have helped Zany Brainy maintain a strong online brand because SubmitOrder.com provides the retailer's customers with quality customer service as well as efficient order fulfillment, says Zany Brainy president Tom Vellios. Other SubmitOrder.com customers include GoodHome.com, Indulge.com, and Limited Too.