Sept. 11, 2000

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After Slow Start, Sears Leaps Into E-Retailing

By Rich Levin

ike other long-established retailers, Sears, Roebuck and Co. was hardly quick off the mark when it came to selling to consumers online. The 114-year-old company didn't launch its first commercial Web site until May 1999. Since then, though, Sears' Internet retailing efforts have shifted into overdrive.

Since wrapping up its year 2000 work, Sears has launched no fewer than 10 Web sites, each mirroring a real-world department: major appliances, spare parts (with more than 4 million parts numbers), tools, lawn and garden supplies, home services, home electronics, computers and office equipment, baby furniture, small appliances, and cookware. Each has a unique look and feel; each leverages individualized sales, marketing, and promotional efforts; and each targets a specific retail audience.

Most impressive from an IT perspective is the way each Sears Web site is woven directly into the company's enterprise systems. Web shoppers who pull up personal records, check inventory, buy products, or process re-turns are leveraging the same information network, transaction processing, database, data warehouse, and other IT resources as any one of Sears' 80,000 point-of-sale terminals, 18,000 call-center stations, or 40,000 Windows desktops.

It's all powered by eight high-end IBM mainframes in three data centers, Java applications built in-house, and what Sears officials say is the world's largest retail customer database--100 million customer records captured through Sears' diverse sales channels.

Pulling it all together is software from BroadVision Inc., which Sears recently standardized on as its primary Web integration engine. "Job one is to integrate this infrastructure--and it's not easy, it's difficult," CIO Jerry Miller says. "But we're making good progress, and Sears is rapidly becoming an E-business."

Return to main story, "Retailers Find A Winning Mix"

Illustration by Jeffrey Fisher

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