CASE $9-1$

Closet Concepts Ltd$.$

Closet Concepts Ltd$.($CCL$)$ is a rapidly growing provider of home storage and organization products. They manufacture a wide range of products ranging from wire closet organizers to wood shelving systems. Basic CCL product lines are sold through home improvement retailers and the premier product line is sold through designers and custom homebuilders.

The CCL leadership team has been pondering an e$-$commerce strategy and worries that it may lose sales to competitors if a

CCL$.$com online shopping option is not soon established. Fortunately, the CCL website is fairly robust and it would not be difficult to add shopping capabilities to it$.$ All that was really needed was the approval to begin the project.

The approval came during a quarterly executive retreat. During her opening speech, the CEO stated: "Increasingly, do$-$it$-$yourself customers have expressed a desire to order product directly from CCL$.$ The customers claim to have difficulty in getting unique items and parts from the CCL product line because the retailers don't carry them in stock. This can delay project completion and create customer dissatisfaction. By the end of this retreat, I want a high$-$level plan that establishes our e$-$commerce strategy and our plan for managing customer orders. I want us to have excellent omni$-$channel fulfillment and delivery capabilities, but we cannot compromise our service quality to existing retailers, designers, and builders. Now, break into teams and do some brainstorming."