NEWBURY PARK, CA (BRAIN) Mar 6 2012 1:31 PM MT—Giant Bicycle is the latest company to sign on with Vendor-Link Cycling, a partnership it expects will help improve its lead times and fulfillment with access to real-time sell-through data from the Los Altos, California, software company.
“In the short time I’ve been at Giant, the comment I’ve heard most often from our retailers is ‘Giant’s entire product line is strong—if you could consistently get it to me when I need it, I’d buy more,’ “ said John Thompson, executive director of sales at Giant USA. “The partnership with Vendor-Link Cycling is a powerful step in our goal to improve supply performance to our retailers.”
Giant counts more than 1,000 dealers in the U.S.
Vendor-Link Cycling provides SKU-level, real-time sell-through inventory information and smart reports to suppliers from participating retailers. This in turn helps vendors improve planning and forecasting, speeding up fulfillment and reducing lost sales at retail.
The company launched to the bike market in the summer of 2010 and more recently has been working to enroll retailers and suppliers. Its solution is a software install that lets any retailer with a point-of-sale system report their sales.
Retailers who enroll with Vendor-Link Cycling to report their sales gain access to analytics from their own store’s POS data.
Other industry suppliers who have recently signed on to receive data from Vendor-Link Cycling include Specialized, Easton-Bell Sports, Serfas and Cervélo. Vendor-Link also this week announced the hire of Andy Tompkins to head up sales and vendor account management.
