NEW YORK — Belk Inc. recently inked a deal with 7thOnline Inc. to be its primary provider of merchandise and assortment planning for all the retailer’s merchandise divisions.
SeventhOnline helps retailers maximize revenue and margins by enabling them to drive better assortments on the selling floor. While 7thOnline has numerous retail clients such as Boscov’s, Bon-Ton, Dillard’s, Federated Department Stores, Gottschalks, Kohl’s, Nordstrom’s and Saks Inc., Belk is the first retailer to use 7thOnline to plan its entire store assortment.
“We selected 7thOnline for this initiative, given their industry-specific functionality and their retail expertise. Their easy-to-use solutions will enable our merchants to more efficiently execute store-level assortments, ultimately increasing profitability while reducing our average inventory. In addition, 7thOnline provides the opportunity for future vendor collaboration,” said Amy Wooden, Belk’s executive vice president for planning and allocation, in a statement.
Max Ma, chief executive officer of 7thOnline, said in a statement, “We are delighted to partner with Belk for their assortment-planning initiatives. Their forward-thinking approach to assortment planning is well-aligned with our technology solutions, and we look forward to working with their team to continue to develop robust functionality that caters to the needs of this industry.”
Belk is the nation’s largest privately owned department store chain with 277 locations in 15 southeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Founded in Monroe, N.C., in 1888 by William Henry Belk, the company acquired the Proffitt’s and McRae’s nameplates from Saks Inc. last year. The company is under the third generation of Belk family leadership.
According to 7thOnline, its Web-centric software suite provides merchandise and assortment planning that includes buying and ordering processes for retailers and vendors in the global apparel, footwear and accessories sectors. The capabilities provide real-time sharing of key business information, both internally between colleagues and externally with trading partners.