Massey's Professional Outfitters

To the backend structures for omnichannel data visibility Massey’s added omnichannel fulfillment with a vendor dropship application from Retail Backbone. Because their inventory is shared across channels, there are occasions when the physical item that’s purchased online is simultaneously sold while the order was being processed. The dropship integration has automated the process such that, when the software acknowledges that the absence of the inventory upon order completion, it will send the order directly to the vendor for fulfillment, eliminating stock outs.

Gerry Fullington, the General Manager for Massey’s stores, says that this connected, total view across their physical and digital channels allows them to keep lower inventory, rebalancing inventory between stores and sending direct from the vendor via dropship, rather than pulling from the warehouse. Warehouse-based replenishment for web sales accounts for only 25 – 50%, resulting in significant efficiency gains.

Over the next few years, they enlarged one store, opened a new location at a Louisiana State University campus, and moved a third store to a better location with higher traffic – literally. One of their locations is about 50 feet from a popular bike trail.

The complexity of restructuring their strategy and growing their physical operations was mitigated by the ease with which Retail Pro is configurable to scale with the company. Massey’s Outfitters’ authorized Retail Pro Business Partner, Retail Technology Centers (R-Tech), provided their expertise and implemented the Retail Pro software at each new store. “Working with Massey’s – one of our first clients – and watching them grow from a single brick and mortar store to their current thriving multi-store, omnichannel business over the past 20 years has been a joy and our privilege,” said R-Tech owner, Gary Waters.

Massey’s structures its organization to be lean at the top, hiring many more sales associates than upper management personnel, so they can focus on the interaction that happens on the sales floor. They regularly check in with their staff to see what customers might be asking for that they don’t currently carry. Their aim is to better serve the customers who regularly patron their stores, and much of their strategic product decisions have been driven by this goal.

For example, because of the shift back to brick and mortar and to deliver on customer desires for immediate fulfillment, Massey’s now carries a deeper inventory, all managed through Retail Pro. In listening to their customers and analyzing what market opportunities might become available, Massey’s decided to carry Yeti ice chests and Big Green Egg grills (to cater to Louisiana’s famous barbeque culture). Each new product category is easily added to their inventory inside Retail Pro, and the clear organization within the software gives them flexibility in working with the data to drive better assortments and smarter replenishment.

In addition, they are building stronger relationships with their customer base by emphasizing customer engagement. They put on events in partnership with their vendors, doing Demo Days for their kayaks and hosting movie nights where they show documentaries from Teton Gravity Research, an action sports media company. They hold locally-driven seminars on topics like how to rig your boat for kayak fishing, a sport which gains them a broader audience, since it’s not just for the affluent.

“We're confident in our ability to respond to our customers’ needs with Retail Pro, to give them what they really want,” Fullington commented. Whereas in their e-commerce-heavy strategy, the company saw much sales growth will little change in the margin, focusing on the physical locations has increased margins and the company is earning more profit.

Massey's continues to adapt their tools and operations to better serve their customers’ needs and interests. In the past 18 months, they have integrated the new Cayan Genius payment processor to the Retail Pro POS, achieving additional customer security gains and decreasing retailer liability.

Massey's has proven themselves to be an early adopter of retail technology innovations, driving productive and profitable change rather than continuously playing the catch-up game, like companies that resist retail evolution. When asked what drives their tech decisions, Fullington said, “Retail Pro conferences. We go as often as we can to see what others are doing and what new alliances Retail Pro International is building, so we can keep advancing.”