Database in One

Two years ago, the Jaure brothers decided to expand and modernize their retail golf business, but before putting their expansion plans into play, they wanted to make sure they were ready for an upsurge in merchandise, customers and sales. "Before growing, we took a step back and solidified everything, before taking 10 steps forward," says Paul Jaure, president of Miami Golf.

To prepare, the inventory and CRM database system had to be updated. "It's very easy to open more stores or advertise on a Web site," says Jaure. "The hard part is when the orders start coming in. If you receive 50 orders a day and you don't have the right software, there's no way you can manage them. All you're going to have is upset customers." Miami Golf is a three channel operation, but until a year ago when the company went live with CORESense software, the three channels were run disparately. In spite of attempts at synchronization there were often duplicate and missing entries. Since the Web site has gone live with CORESense the difference has been noticeable. "Inventory is a lot more controlled," says Jaure. "I see a lot less dead inventory and we stock more of what we should have."

Essential Functionality
Jaure identifies three functionalities of the CORESense system that are essential for Miami Golf's successful expansion: 1. Real-time access to current inventory; 2. Synchronization across channels; and 3. Database is tied to vendor purchase orders. "I like the whole idea of a real-time system where you enter an item and a second later it is available on all of your channels," Jaure says. Monitoring inventory in real time allows Miami Golf to keep inventory levels under control, reduce the amount of time an item is out-of-stock and track the popularity of items, enabling more precise assortment and allocation planning.

Synchronicity across all channels prevents duplicate entries, allowing customers to move seamlessly across channels. "A customer can order an item in our store, go home, enter his Web account and view the status of his order," says Jaure. Prior to the CORESense implementation a customer could appear in the database four times -- if he'd shopped at both store locations, on the Web site and through the call center. Now when customer information is entered by one channel, it is automatically visible at all channels."