Sharon Gardner

Inventory flexibility is the best way to maximize sales in today’s economy. But many challenges prevent marketers with both direct fulfillment centers and retail stores from maximizing the inventory they have. E-commerce, catalog and retail have different planning methods and accuracy issues. It’s one thing to get the size distribution right for a region and store, but it’s another to plan for the way colors sell.

Take this to heart: 15 million more people will make a holiday purchase online this season compared to last year, Jupiter Communications reported in November. Other research groups put holiday online spending at nearly double that of last year. With more consumer shopping behavior migrating to the Web, not to mention progress in the b-to-b sector, it's imperative to have a robust e-commerce shopping component. While the bells and whistles of designing a shoppers' online paradise can be fun, it's the back end that will make or break you—holiday season or not. Whether you are starting your e-commerce channel from scratch or looking

To make the decision, you need to evaluate where you are now and where you want to be By Hallie Mummert Take this to heart: 15 million more people will make a holiday purchase online this season compared to last year, Jupiter Communications reported in November. Other research groups put holiday online spending at nearly double that of last year. With more consumer shopping behavior migrating to the Web, not to mention progress in the b-to-b sector, it's imperative to have a robust e-commerce shopping component. While the bells and whistles of designing a shoppers' online paradise can be fun, it's the back