AXIAR suite of products integrates Web-based sales processes with order fulfillment and home delivery of themed specialty items.
Overview
LBM systems’ software integrates the company’s web-based sales process with order fulfillment and personalized customer delivery.
Results
- Elimination of dedicated form printers.
- Laser form deployment in days, not weeks.
- Personalized output based on database queries or conditional logic.
- Peak volume print queue management.
- Ensured delivery with auto-failover and redundancy.
Customer
Build-A-Bear Workshop is an interactive, entertainment, mall-based retailer that invites Guests of all ages to create their own customized stuffed animals through an exciting furry friend-making process. It has become one of the hottest and most talked about retailers in the world over the past few years. Its innovative and themed retail experience is rivaled by no other.
The Business Challenge
This highly innovative retail outlet has a very successful web-based order process in addition to its retail store presence. Build-A-Bear Workshop was processing web orders into hard copy certificates, invoices, pickslips and customer experience “enhancements” ready for immediate shipping and home delivery. Unfortunately, impact printers and a legacy form creation process wouldn’t allow for the type of document enhancements and personalization required with a new end-to-end e-commerce solution. A new system was desired that would incorporate HP LaserJet printer technology with server-based forms production to enhance the customer experience. This process had to handle high-volume holiday periods. They required the ability to make routine enhancements to the form output. And, all this needed to happen in a matter of days, not months. “We really needed an online system that would expeditiously allow us to incorporate the personal touches our Guests were accustomed to,” said Jennifer Vogel, IT Develo-Bear Manager. “LBM Systems was introduced to us by HP as a strategic partner for print output management. We gave them a call.”
The Business Solution
Within five business days, the IT team for Build-A-Bear Workshop and their partner, Habanero, had implemented the AXIAR Format solution. Raw data streams for documents such as certificates, invoices and pickslips were feeding directly into AXIAR for formatting and personalization based on data fields and associated logic. “With the help of LBM Systems’ tech team, we had the software up and accepting our data streams in a few days,” says Vogel. “Now it was time to see what they could do with some of the personalization touches we needed.”
The trademark font of Build-A-Bear Workshop, “BearHouse”, which a Guest to their stores or website can immediately identify as a Build-A-Bear Workshop trademark, was now enabled in this new modern forms printing environment. Bar codes on the invoice and certificate now identified the appropriate Bear with his/her appropriate accoutrement. As customers ordered product, they were provided with frequent shopper stamps, all of which were formatted on the fly based on database queries, and printed for immediate delivery. Any changes to the forms today are made in-house using AXIAR’s easy-to-use Format Composer Tool.
During high-volume periods, AXIAR’s ability to cluster printers for greatly enhanced volume printing is being used by Build-A-Bear Workshop. In addition, the product’s innovative auto-failover feature ensures the delivery of output despite the condition of the hardware device (out of paper, unplugged, etc.).
The staff at Build-A-Bear Workshop believes there are many uses for the varied delivery options of AXIAR Deliver. “We’ll definitely grow with this product and LBM Systems,” claims Dave Finnegan, Director of InBearmation Technology. “They’ve become a great business partner for Build-A-Bear Workshop.”
About Build-A-Bear Workshop
Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) is an interactive, entertainment, mall based retailer that invites Guests of all ages to create their own customized stuffed animals through an exciting bear-making process. Build-A-Bear Workshop is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. The company now operates over 170 locations in the USA with five stores in Canada. Build-A-Bear Workshop opened its first international store in Sheffield, England in the fall of 2003, added additional international stores in Japan, Korea, Denmark and Australia in 2004 and plans to open its first store in Taiwan in 2005 making it the global leader in the teddy bear business. Based on a survey compiled by Shopping Centers Today, a publication of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Build-A-Bear Workshop was one of six retailers chosen and presented with the ICSC “2004 Hot Retailer Award”. In addition, the company was one of three retail finalists for the Ernst and Young National Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 award. For more information on the company and its products call (877) 789- BEAR (2327) or visit the company’s award-winning web site at http://www.BuildaBear.com.