Clarity Consulting Inc. today announced
the full deployment of a new Wholesale Order Management system for Follett
Higher Education Group, part of Follett Corporation -- the country's largest
provider of educational tools and services and the industry's premier
wholesale book distributor.
The Wholesale Order Management System is a custom-crafted solution that
allows Follett to deliver online book sales capabilities to a variety of
institutions including universities with distance education programs and
colleges without brick and mortar stores or e-commerce sites. By creating a
bridge between Follett's warehouse systems and third party web retailers, the
Wholesale Order Management System delivers cost savings and improved
productivity while simultaneously enhancing the consumer experience for
millions of students nationwide.
Working closely with Follett, Clarity designed and developed the Wholesale
Order Management software to support a number of key e-commerce functions such
as: allocating and posting inventory to multiple web retail sites, downloading
orders from the Web, performing credit card payments, and uploading shipment
information back to the merchant for real-time order tracking by the end
customer. The fully automated system also includes a customer service
application that allows Follett representatives to update, modify, cancel
and/or track orders mid-stream (i.e., as they flow through the system),
creating better accuracy, flexibility and control for Follett and the
consumer.
Using Microsoft technologies including Microsoft Visual Studio and
Microsoft SQL Server 2005, the Wholesale Order Management System was designed
to work seamlessly with Follett's existing platforms and third party Web
vendors -- allowing Follett to quickly bring new retailers online with minimal
configuration. In addition, the system features EPay -- a software solution
that allows Follett to accept financial aid and gift cards in addition to
credit cards, to process payments.
For students, all this adds up to an incredibly quick, easy and flexible
experience: just order your books online, pay online, and then have them
delivered to your door. After just eight months in use, Follett received over
1 million customer orders.
"For Follett, making the decision to extend our business to the Web was
easy, but finding the right technology to enable it presented a challenge,"
said Irwin Gafen, Director of Wholesale System, Follett Higher Education
Group. "We wanted a solution that would work seamlessly with our current
systems, yet allow for flexibility and scalability where needed, and with
Clarity Consulting we got it. From day one, Clarity's creativity, passion and
professionalism helped deliver a system that not only drives real-world
business results but also generates big brand benefits for Follett and its
partners."
"In an increasingly competitive retail landscape, technology is not only
the key to improving operations, it's a key differentiator for a retailer's
brand," said Don Peterson, Principal, Clarity Consulting. "At Clarity, our
goal is to help smart partners like Follett take advantage of technology's
edge and we're excited to have supported them again in the creation of the
Wholesale Order Management System. With the Wholesale Order Management
System, Follett was able to open two new markets and improve customer service
while decreasing costs -- a great example of how custom software drives
results."
About Clarity Consulting Inc.
Clarity Consulting Inc. designs, develops, and implements custom software
solutions to help clients achieve their unique visions and drive business
results. Clarity's versatile and talented consulting teams specialize in
experience design, application development, business intelligence, legacy
integration and e-commerce websites for a range of clients, from retail and
manufacturing industries to financial institutions. Clarity Consulting Inc.
is based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. For more information about our company,
our people, and our solutions, please visit http://claritycon.com.
About Follett Higher Education Group
Follett Higher Education Group of Oak Brook, IL, is the leading provider
of bookstore services and the foremost supplier of used books in North
America. Follett services four million students and over 375,000 faculty
through more than 800 stores. Follett also services more than 1,600
independent campus stores with its wholesale services, and has the most
visited e-commerce collegiate Web site, efollett.com, that provides services
and products through a network of more than 900 campus stores. For additional
information about Follett, please visit http://www.fheg.follett.com.
About Follett
Follett Corporation is a $2.3 billion, privately-held company that
provides products, services and solutions to the educational marketplace.
Follett Corporation was founded in 1873, and today is headquartered in River
Grove, Illinois.