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March 20, 2000

Lands' End Looks Beyond Consumers
Apparel retailer launches three-pronged business-to-business E-commerce effort

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ands' End Inc. is expanding its successful E-commerce efforts. The apparel retailer last week launched several initiatives designed to make it easier for its business customers to buy Lands' End merchandise.

Lands' End has consistently done well with its consumer site, capturing the No. 2 spot in Gomez Advisors' ranking of top online apparel sites. It wants to replicate that success with business-to-business transactions, such as selling polo shirts with company logos, a decade-old business at the company that represents $140 million in sales--more than 10% of Lands' End's total sales.

The Dodgeville, Wis., company's E-commerce spin for business-to-business sales includes three initiatives: a new site for business customers, Web-site hosting and services that involve custom Lands' End Web stores, and participation in online marketplaces.

"The announcements reinforce the idea that to do business with businesses you need the efficiencies of E-commerce," says Michael Grasee, director of Internet business development at Lands' End. "Now we have a whole menu of E-commerce services."

The efficiencies include shaving days off the cycle of getting a company logo into the hands of Lands' End designers. "Today, a customer can send the artwork electronically vs. sending it through the mail. It's faster and cheaper," Grasee says. In addition, he says, companies now can do business with Lands' End around the clock.

The new site is aimed at small and midsize business customers and includes connectivity to live customer-service representatives via Cisco Collaboration Server software, which ties the Web site to a Lands' End call center. A customer with a question can click on an icon and expect a call from a Lands' End representative within 20 seconds.

Lands' End has been using Cisco's software on its consumer site since Christmas--during the holiday season, as many as 1,000 customers a day were connected to a live rep--and decided it was imperative to include the capability on its new corporate site. "There is a lot of consulting that goes on between customer-service representatives and the customer," Grasee says.

Lands' End has also started offering Web-site development and hosting services so companies can build custom Lands' End online stores. Saturn Corp. this month will launch one. The Saturn site will be accessible through the automaker's intranet to about 8,000 Saturn employees and via the Internet to more than 400 Saturn dealers nationwide.

Lands' End also says it's working with systems integrator WebMethods Inc. to connect into both the Commerce One MarketSite Global Trading Portal and the Ariba Network so Lands' End customers can shop on those marketplaces.

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