Neiman Marcus To Boost Visibility Of Inventory For Suppliers

Retailer Neiman Marcus is turning to technology to boost visibility into sales and inventory for its supplier base, the company announced this week.

Software provided by Sky IT Group will link Neiman Marcus vendors to data related to sales and inventory, the firm said. The retailer is adopting Sky IT’s SKYPAD Software-as-a-Service solution, which tracks this data and distributes reports to vendors down the supply chain.

Together, the businesses call the initiative SKYPAD for NMG and aim to enhance the buyer-supplier relationship for vendors across sizes and store levels.

“Our industry structure and dynamics continue to change at an accelerating pace,” said Neiman Marcus Group Senior Vice President, Merchandise Planning, Nathan Johnson in a statement. “We believe strongly that with the use of tools like SKYPAD we can enable greater collaboration between our teams and our brands, with better insights and faster execution.”

Sky IT Group President and CEO Jay Hakami added that the solution can support vendor initiatives like trend and reorder analysis.

“The partnership with Neiman Marcus provides for significant benefits for NMG teams and its suppliers/brands community,” Hakami said.

Earlier this year, Neiman Marcus announced its CEO, Karen Katz, would be stepping down from the position she held since 2010, reports in The Wall Street Journal said. The retailer has struggled with debt from leveraged buyouts; Geoffroy Van Raemdonck replaced Katz in February.

The company was acquired for $6 billion in 2013 but has faced financial challenges since the deal. The latest data pegged its long-term debt at $4.8 billion as eCommerce forces in-store retail giants like Neiman Marcus, Macy’s and others to find other avenues to support growth.

Earlier this year, Neiman Marcus introduced a new initiative to generate sales via social media accounts on Instagram and Snapchat. The plan sees its sales associates connecting customers to sales on their personal accounts; at the time, Katz said, “customers who are attached to a sales associate spend more.”