– Globe and Mail – Saturday February 13 –

With the goal to have each of their products, both from store shelves and their catalogue, in stock and ready to ship at all times Sears has looked towards an online store. That being said, for such a large variety of stock this is both complex and costly to implement. So are the benefits that Sears will see worthwhile?
It has become a recent trend to make your product line accessible online. Having an online store as your primary focus allows the supplier a greater cut of the profits, as well as, up close and personal contact with their consumers. I believe that the high accounting costs of implementing this never ending, always-stocked aisle will quickly be offset by the information Sears will receive about their consumers buying habits. They will know what items are hot, and which ones is not; subsequently, this will give feedback to the marketing department, and allow their demand forecasting to become more accurate. Overall, I think the long-term opportunity cost of implementing such a large online store is in no way a negative one.