Nordstrom’s Mobile Deployment

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

One of the particularly interesting sessions at CIO Retail Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona, last week dealt with how the major retail chain Nordstrom moved into mobile in a major way.

Sanjay Dalwani, Infosys; John Mayfield, Nordstrom; Sanjeev Bode, Infosys

In partnership with Infosys, Nordstrom in a period of six months deployed..

  • WiFi in 115 stores
  • 6,000 Apple iPod Touches with Commerce/Scan Sleds
  • 115 mobile POS store servers
  • 1,200 wireless printers
  • 1,200 mobile wrap stands

Besides transforming the customer experience, InfoSys solution also helped unlock valuable customer, sales and inventory data locked in POS registers; brought efficiency in order fulfillment for in-store pick-up and direct-to-customer; and reduced infrastructure and training costs.

Founded as a shoe store, Nordstrom is a 110-year-old retailer, doing $9.31 billion annually. The company is known for its best-in- class customer experience, which is built on the four pillars of price/value; convenience; service; and selection. It wanted to strengthen key service, product differentiation and customer experience.

“We made a big capital investment at the cash level a few years ago,” said John Mayfield, Nordstrom’s director of IT. “Recently, we decided on mobility to enhance the customer experience and to keep the salesperson connected with the customer.“

Now that the mobile efforts have been deployed, Nordstrom is considering a number of new efforts, including the digital wallet, DMV readers, and NFC.

Nordstrom Inc. reported a 6.7% increase in same-store sales for the four-week period ended August 27, 2011, compared with the four-week period ended August 28, 2010. Preliminary total retail sales of $691 million for August, 2011, increased 12.4% compared with total retail sales of $615 million for the same period in fiscal 2010.


One Response to “Nordstrom’s Mobile Deployment”

  1. Mobile Technology: Equipping Your Sales Teams « reality interactive Says:

    […] technology in retail is indeed a hot topic. Nordstrom deployed 6,000 iPod touch units and added Wi-Fi capability to 112 of its stores, giving associates greater control over the entire […]

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