NEW YORK — Commerce Technologies Inc., also known as CommerceHub, is expected today to sign the Home Shopping Network as a client.
The deal, which impacts Home Shopping Network’s HSN.com online store, will be announced here at the National Retail Federation’s 90th Annual Convention and Expo.
CommerceHub plans to improve the connectivity between HSN.com and its vendors by streamlining the fulfillment process.
A 3-year-old application service provider, CommerceHub, Clifton Park, NY, allows a client’s incoming orders to be automatically routed to pre-designated vendors for direct drop-ship fulfillment.
“We’re helping them to rapidly expand their vendor network online so that their vendors can support their sales,” said Dave Duggal, vice president of strategic development at CommerceHub.
Called Supply on Demand, this virtual warehousing eliminates the online retailer’s need to maintain physical inventory. It also sidesteps double shipping costs and provides real-time order status information for avoiding possible fulfillment snafus.
CommerceHub expects to provide HSN.com with complete visibility through real-time status of orders and to streamline its business processes, Duggal said.
“Their major problems right now are connectivity, because rapidly expanding their trading network partners is what all merchants do,” Duggal said. “And
then going into the marketing end of it, we’re giving them branding fulfillment.
“When their vendors are filling orders in a drop-ship model on their behalf, it allows HSN.com to extend themselves into each vendor’s warehouse and brand each individual order.”
This means that CommerceHub’s technology will provide vendors with HSN branded packing slips for inclusion with each shipment.
HSN.com, launched in 1999, is the online division of the round-the-clock TV shopping network, which reaches more than 143 million households worldwide through broadcast, cable and satellite systems. The company generated $1.2 billion in sales in 1999. The Home Shopping Network is a division of USA Networks Inc.
