Macy's 2007 Annual Report Download - page 16

• macy’s, inc.
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Technology Plays an Ever-Greater Role
Technology is playing a larger and increasingly crucial role at Macy’s,
Inc. as we increase convenience for customers, speed transactions,
improve merchandising and operate more efficiently.
Our direct-to-consumer businesses, including macys.com and
bloomingdales.com, continue to be the fastest-growing part of
the company, with sales expected to top $1 billion in 2008. Our
Internet sites are more complete, faster and content-rich than
ever before. As a result, we are benefiting from the interaction
of our stores and online offerings, which provide customers a
seamless shopping experience.
These businesses are supported by two new 600,000-square-
foot distribution centers in Portland, TN, and Goodyear,
AZ, that are part of a $300 million investment in direct-to-
consumer technology and operations in the 2006-2008
period. With these new facilities in place, the company’s
selling sites can ship 98 percent of its online orders (up to
70,000 a day) within 24 hours. The nationwide distribution
center network supporting Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores
also has been upgraded and reconfigured to reduce the time
and costs required to bring fresh goods to the sales floor.
In the stores, Macy’s in 2007 began rolling out a network of
50,000 new registers and point-of-sale systems that will be
fully in place by the end of 2010. New “smart registers” are
allowing sales associates to handle complex tasks more
simply, while the supporting software will enable true
multi-channel retailing in the years ahead.
• macy’s, inc.