|
|
|
|
|
IU center collaborates with Eddie Bauer on scientific studies of new retail technologies
Sept. 6, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Eddie Bauer Inc. has entered into a collaborative alliance with the Center for Education and Research in Retailing in Indiana University's Kelley School of Business to develop and test new applications of retail technology.
The purpose of the project is to explore how interactive technologies can enhance the shopping experience in online and in-store shopping environments. The research will use controlled experiments to test the impact of new technologies on consumer attitudes, shopping behavior and store performance.
"Our primary goal in working with IU's Center for Retailing is to create and develop a two-way exchange of learning," said Michael Boyd, Eddie Bauer's director of customer relationship management. "The perspective and resources we gain by collaborating with the faculty and students at the center allow us to explore new facets of our business and discover new means to manage our relationship with customers."
"Retailers today are faced with unprecedented changes in communication technologies and consumer expectations," said Raymond Burke, the E.W. Kelley Professor of Business Administration and director of IU's Customer Interface Laboratory.
"Web-enabled kiosks, hand-held shopping devices, Internet appliances, electronic signage, software agents, smart cards, body scanning and virtual reality displays are just a few of the new technologies now available to retailers," Burke added. "We need a fast and reliable means of determining which innovations will be successful and unsuccessful, and to identify the most promising applications for specific product categories, customer segments and shopping situations."
In the first phase of the partnership, IU conducted research on Eddie Bauer's business and its competitors in retail, catalog and online venues. The research evaluated the functionality and simplicity of the companies' shopping interfaces, the availability of product information, the use of personalization, the role of community and entertainment in the shopping experience, and channel integration.
Student teams developed hundreds of ideas on how technology might be used to enhance the shopping experience. A team of Eddie Bauer executives and IU faculty selected and refined the concepts. Now Eddie Bauer is ready to test the first technology solution in one of its stores.
"Our first test is designed to convert mall passersby to shoppers. We want to increase the time they spend in our stores and increase their exposure to our full line of products," said Boyd. "I am confident that we will learn more about the habits and preferences of our customers and will be better able to meet their needs."
Theresa Williams, director of the Center for Education and Research in Retailing, said, "Eddie Bauer is an ideal partner for this project. The firm's strength in multi-channel retailing will allow us to explore issues of channel integration and extend our research from the laboratory into the retail stores and the homes of consumers."
The IU center has worked with other leading retailers to evaluate consumer acceptance of new retail technologies, analyze data from customer loyalty programs, develop and test e-commerce applications, enhance the effectiveness of direct marketing programs, design materials for integrated communication programs, and conduct customer satisfaction program analysis.
Based in Redmond, Wash., Eddie Bauer is a leading specialty retailer that offers active, casual lifestyle clothing, accessories, home furnishings and decor for the bed and bath through its two concepts: Eddie Bauer ® and Eddie Bauer Home™. In its 80-year history, Eddie Bauer has evolved from a single store to an international company with catalogs and more than 520 stores in the United States, Canada and online. Through joint ventures and licensing agreements, Eddie Bauer also markets its sportswear in Germany and Japan.
The Kelley School of Business at IU is one of the country's premier business schools. Its undergraduate program is ranked among the top 10 in the nation, and its MBA program has been cited in Business Week as one of the favorites of corporate recruiters. Located on the Bloomington campus of IU, the Center for Education and Research in Retailing is a leader in the application of technology to retail education and research through the Sears Learning Lab. The Kelley School also is host to the Customer Interface Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility for investigating how customers interact with new retailing technologies.
(Raymond Burke, Kelley School, 812-855-1066, rayburke@indiana.edu or Patty Lewis, Eddie Bauer Inc., 425-755-6335, patty.lewis@eddiebauer.com or George Vlahakis, OCM, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)