O'Neill Clothing Goes Live with CenterStone Technologies SOM

Posted: 08/24/2006 In Category: Outdoor Retail

Posted By: Patricia B. Smith

For immediate release, Denver, Colo. – August 24, 2006. CenterStone Technologies, Inc., an international developer of Web-based sales order management software for manufacturers of apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories, serving the outdoor recreation, snow sports, sporting goods, surf and action sports industries – selling through specialty retailers – today announced that O’Neill Clothing has gone “live” for their retail dealers on the company’s iVendix software application for business-to-business (B2B) on-line ordering. O’Neill Clothing dealers will be able to place their pre-season orders and all their re-orders through this new B2B tool which is accessible 24/7 via the World Wide Web. Dealers will also be able to check on the availability of product as well as track and monitor the status of their orders.

“We are truly excited that we are now ‘live’ for our dealers on this new platform. In order to continue to provide the timeliest access to our products as well as superior customer service to our specialty retailers, O’Neill Clothing now has an industry standard, B2B on-line ordering solution,” said Toby Bost, Chief Operating Officer at O’Neill Clothing. “In our mind, a proven solution is one that retailers will readily embrace, so we partnered with CenterStone whose iVendix solution has rapidly become a standout leader in action sports and outdoor recreation. What makes CenterStone unique is that they have an established retail community utilizing their solution many of which are already O’Neill customers. Obviously, this gives us a huge head start in terms of adoption and overcoming any sort of learning curve.”

Tom Detmer, CEO of CenterStone Technologies commented, “We are very excited about O’Neill Clothing’s decision to launch a B2B on-line solution for their dealers with CenterStone. O’Neill Clothing asked us to get them live in time for MAGIC and ASR trade shows, and our team rose to the occasion. Joe Schaeffer and his team at Innovative Systems were a joy to work with, and half the credit belongs to them. Innovative is the ERP provider for O’Neill Clothing with their Full Circle product. We have been able to seamlessly integrate all orders for O’Neill Clothing into their Full Circle back-end system. The decision by O’Neill Clothing to offer CenterStone’s next-generation iVendix solution will allow them to take advantage of more than 10,000 specialty retailers who already using our B2B on-line solution. Dealers and sales reps have been very quick to adopt the CenterStone solution.

“We challenged CenterStone to get us live for the upcoming MAGIC trade show as well as ASR, and they met that challenge by completing the project in a record 60 days," Bost said. "To top it off, this solution is Internet-enabled, and available 24/7, so our dealers will be able to spend more time during the day on the shop floor with their customers and still be able to transact business with O’Neill Clothing after normal, retail business hours. We wanted to provide our dealers with the convenience of being able to see product availability and place orders 24/7. It’s not just about having the best products. Being easy to do business with will set O’Neill Clothing apart and ultimately contributes to the ongoing success of our dealers. With this new on-line ordering solution, O’Neill Clothing expects to set a new standard for fulfilling dealers’ orders.”

Detmer added, “The ‘trade show’ environment that is offered through the CenterStone solution will make it that much easier for customers of O’Neill Clothing to do business with them, as it is the same system these dealers are already using for a host of their other suppliers, such as The North Face, Smith Optics, Freestyle watches, Pearl Izumi, Marmot, Helly Hansen, Sport Obermeyer, Ex Officio, KHS Bicycles, Hot Chillys and many others. With CenterStone as their partner, O’Neill Clothing will continue to raise the bar for customer service in the surf and action sports industry. Dealers and sales reps have been very quick to embrace the CenterStone solution, and we expect that O’Neill Clothing’s decision to implement the CenterStone solution will have a significant, positive impact on their business.”

“A recent survey of 3,200 specialty retailers found that 54% of dealers spend more with vendors who have a CenterStone-like solution, and on average they spend 13% more with these CenterStone-enabled vendors. It seems that dealers are voting with their wallets, and they spend more with vendors who are easier to do business with. Dealers have also clearly expressed to us that they want to be able to conduct business at their convenience, and the management team at O’Neill Clothing is listening to what dealers are saying, Detmer said.”

Brands currently making the CenterStone Technologies solution available to their retail customers and sales reps include: The North Face, part of VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC); Pearl Izumi, a division of Nautilus, Inc. (NYSE: NLS); Marmot Mountain, Ex Officio and Marker Apparel, part of K2 Corporation (NYSE: KTO); Helly Hansen; Hot Chillys; Perry Ellis Intl. (NASDAQ: PERY); Geneva Watch Group; Cleveland Golf, part of Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK); RipCurl; Billabong; Sport Obermeyer; Smith Optics; Garmont; KHS Bicycles; Dale of Norway, Malone Auto Racks, Walk-EZ, and others.

About O’Neill

O’Neill is the world’s original surf brand. The family-owned and operated company distributes its product to 85 countries, including more than 2,000 specialty wetsuit and clothing retailers in the U.S. Consumer information is available at www.oneill.com

About CenterStone Technologies, Inc.
CenterStone Technologies, Inc. provides Web-based sales order management applications in five languages and local currencies in North America and Europe. iVendix and Escape applications enable retail dealers and sales reps to view online catalogs and product availability, create sales proposals and to place preseason, reorders, and retail employee orders more effectively and efficiently with their vendors. CenterStone Technologies makes vendors more competitive by providing increased inventory turns at retail, reduced customer service costs, and greater speed to market, thus improving relationships with their customers – retail dealers. Additional information about CenterStone Technologies, Inc. can be found on the company’s Web site at www.centerstonetech.com or by contacting OnTarget Public Relations at 303.333.1516.

Editor’s Note: Product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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