CORRECTING and REPLACING Brookstone Expands Product Mix and Adds More Than 500 New Dropship Partners with VendorNet® Dropship Manager

Published on Wednesday, 25 January 2012 12:04 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla.-( Business Wire )-

Please replace the release dated January 24, 2012 with the following corrected version due to revisions to the Brookstone boilerplate.

The corrected release reads:

BROOKSTONE EXPANDS PRODUCT MIX AND ADDS MORE THAN 500 NEW DROPSHIP PARTNERS WITH VENDORNET® DROPSHIP MANAGER

VendorNet Inc., a provider of cross-channel fulfillment and supply chain technology, today announced Brookstone’s implementation of VendorNet Dropship Manager, expanding the company’s dropship network by more than 500 vendor partners and adding tens of thousands of items available for fast delivery. VendorNet’s dropship technology is a core component of Brookstone’s vision to grow its vendor network and selection of products online and in stores, as well as automate its order communication process and real-time visibility into vendor fulfillment.

Live with VendorNet for nearly one year, Brookstone’s dropship order volume peaked in December, with an 800 percent increase over average order volume in off-season months. According to Bill Wood, vice president and chief information officer at Brookstone, VendorNet Dropship Manager easily scaled to handle the influx of seasonal orders.

VendorNet Dropship Manager replaced Brookstone’s home-grown system, streamlining vendor integration, compliance, and real-time order status. Wood commented, “with our old system, vendor integration was challenging and it lacked the tools necessary to monitor status and performance. We were convinced VendorNet had the right solution for two key reasons – first, it looked very simple to implement as a cloud or SaaS solution and second, they had a large number of retail clients and dropship vendors that were already using it. The crossover with the vendors we intended to partner with, led us to believe that the integration with these dropship partners would be greatly simplified.”

Today, VendorNet Dropship Manager provides Brookstone with backend dropship order management technology that automates order communication, processing, invoicing, and shipping. VendorNet’s reporting tools enable Brookstone to monitor orders in real-time, and track vendor compliance to ensure vendors are meeting delivery commitments. In addition, vendor onboarding is simple and fast and supports any level of sophistication, from smaller web-based vendors to EDI-based vendors.

“We value Brookstone’s endorsement of our technology as a tool for managing its expanding dropship business. With today’s savvy consumers steering the retail landscape, it is important for retailers to continually re-evaluate their business strategies. We share Brookstone’s vision of innovation, and the ability to cost-effectively and efficiently meet customer demand,” stated Sharon Gardner, president of VendorNet. “Our dropship technology provides a low-risk opportunity to increase revenue by offering complementary and extended product categories that can attract higher average order sizes and more frequent purchases from both existing and new customers.”

VendorNet’s focus on their customers differentiates them from other vendors. “VendorNet is a well-run organization that we are pleased to be engaged with. They are more than a technology provider; they really get customer relations - reaching out and touching base, seeing how things are going, asking questions to understand our business and checking to see if there is anything they can help us with. They are a true partner with a solution that easily integrated with our infrastructure and our vendors,” emphasized Wood.

About VendorNet

VendorNet (www.vendornet.com) delivers web-based omni-retailing and supply chain solutions that enable intelligent cross-channel commerce by integrating and routing orders from all sales channels to the best-source fulfillment location including warehouses, suppliers, and brick and mortar stores. These solutions optimize inventory usage and visibility, decrease order delivery time and expense, improve customer loyalty and satisfaction, and increase sales. More than 120 retailers and over 18,000 suppliers, warehouses, and stores are leveraging VendorNet solutions. Retail clients include Nine West, CompUSA, Neiman Marcus, David’s Bridal, Toys“R”Us, Orvis, National Geographic, Rue La La, Saks Fifth Avenue, Liz Claiborne, and Guitar Center. VendorNet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GSI Commerce. GSI Commerce is an eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) company.

About Brookstone

Brookstone is an innovative product development company and specialty retailer. Brookstone operates 300 stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. Typically located in high-traffic regional shopping malls and airports, the stores feature unique and innovative consumer products. The company also operates a Direct Marketing business that includes the Brookstone catalog and an e-commerce website at Brookstone.com. Fans of the company are encouraged to Like Brookstone on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

for VendorNet Inc.Kelly Henry, 610-491-7474Sr. Director, Global Public RelationsTwitter: @ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.