Play.com purchasing system boosted bumper Christmas

A new purchasing platform helped online entertainment retailer Play.com to bumper sales this Christmas.

Speaking to silicon.com, the company's MD Stuart Rowe said the purchasing system, supplied by Wax Digital and implemented in August, has not only rationalised the diverse purchasing arrangements for the site's ever-increasing product range but also freed his buyers to seek out even more products to offer.

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Rowe added the purchasing platform, which generates a daily buy sheet for each category specialist and uses a traffic-light system to highlight urgent stock requirements, allows his buyers to manage stock to the best possible availability and maximise the stock turnover throughout the year.

According to Rowe, because Play.com's product range has expanded, it has a variety of supply chains running at a variety of paces - from apparel, which runs to a few seasons, to DVDs with a turnaround of a matter of days.

The purchasing system allows his buyers to juggle those supply chains much more efficiently to ensure stock levels are maintained.

"This frees my buyers up to go out and find new products for us to sell," he said.

Play.com now sells up to seven million stock keeping units (SKUs), including digital downloads.

"Over the last year, retailing has seen a shift to online, especially over Christmas. With the downturn, consumers have found it easier to make the most of their money buying online. This has meant retailers like Play, which has 10 years' experience, have now been putting more [category] tabs on their sites to allow consumers to do their whole Christmas shop on one site," Rowe said.