One of the early adopters (Fall 2006) of Laris was Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo & Marin Counties, where eCommerce Manager, Johnny Cochran reports that Laris’ simplicity and ease of use immediately produced increased staff productivity.
Goodwill takes in thousands of donated items daily and resells the higher value items online . Inventory listings of items to sell on eBay had been a tremendously time-consuming task for his staff of three people.
However, on the first day of listing with Laris software, inventory listings had increased by 100%. By the second day, they had increased by 400%. An added benefit to the software is that it kept employees away from eBay’s listing Web site where time had frequently been spent checking Goodwill’s feedback page, sending invoices, email tracking and answering questions.
Laris automates most of the costly processes that frequently slow down eBay sellers, maximizes the strengths of many online sales venues, include EBay, and creates a more synergistic—and profitable—online sales environment.
Cochran is also excited about other Laris cost-saving features such as the free listing scheduler, automated emails to buyers, customer service features, such as having all order information--from the payment type and date to shipping address to tracking number—in a single place, and inventory tracking. The increased efficiency afforded by Laris has increased Goodwill’s eBay sales by more than 200%.
Using Laris, Goodwill was able to maintain its increased level of online sales even during the post-holiday season.
About nine months ago, Cochran began using the Laris warehousing module. In a relatively short time, every storage shelf at Goodwill was labeled and bar coded.
“We now are fully using all the capabilities of Laris software, which includes quality controls for listing and shipping. It has streamlined our operation, adding even more efficiency. Everything is automated”
Cochran notes that Goodwill’s warehousing operation now operates as an assembly line, rather than having one person handle each operation. Each function-- intake, item description, photography, packaging, and managing the item’s weight and dimension—has been individualized.
For example, he explains, when an online order comes in, the shelf labels make it easy to find an item’s exact location and identify it, even though it’s already been prepackaged. “Our people go into the warehouse with a preprinted packing slip that tells them the location and because size and weight were already determined, the label shows the exact shipping price. We know that price even before the sale has been made. Before adopting Laris, we had to estimate shipping prices and frequently lost money that way. But now, it no longer happens. The man-hours saved are repurposed for other activities, such as putting more items online and ready for sale.
He adds, “Laris lets everyone in the eCommerce department work smarter. The unit has become much easier to manage, with less time spent on mundane tasks. Instead, I’m able to explore new sales opportunities and better train my staff.”
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