Mail Order Firm Enhances Reporting, Improves Customer Service, and Cuts Licensing Costs

Overview

Germany's third largest mail order company neckermann.de GmbH employs 7,800 people and recorded revenues of €1.71 billion (U.S.$2.03 billion) in 2004. A third of the company's sales are generated through 700,000 agency customers. Field service staff, responsible for supporting these, historically received business updates from headquarters every two weeks. As a result, information, such as customer payment arrears, was often out of date. To address this, the company deployed a new information system based on Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and IBM ThinkPad mobile computers. This provides staff with current business data and helps them address customer queries more quickly.