Ground-Breaking Technology Solution Strengthens Goodwill Retail; Wins InfoWorld Top 100 Award

Business Wire, Nov 20, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2003

A web-based data warehouse designed by Goodwill IT employees has helped Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo & Marin counties revolutionize its retail operations by transforming the agency's approach to sales tracking, reporting and product distribution -- and all at a fraction of the cost of other similar applications. InfoWorld Magazine has recognized the system as one of the top 100 technology innovations of the year, an annual award that honors companies demonstrating the most creative use of cutting-edge technologies to further their business goals.

"We have brought Goodwill into the 21st century, with technology that reduces labor while providing an abundance of strategic data," says Peter Campbell, VP, Information Technology, at Goodwill Industries of San Francisco. "With this tool, we can make sound decisions about our retail business and better use the donations we receive to expand and improve our job training and career services." The sale of donated goods in Goodwill retail stores represent 85 percent of the organization's operating revenue and fund employment programs for people seeking jobs.

Goodwill of San Francisco developed the system to address weaknesses in the existing sales data collection and reporting process. Despite upgrades in its retail point of sale cash register system in the winter of 2003, the agency was unable to perform easily any significant trend or comparative analysis on sales due to the manual method of sales reporting and tracking. Before the implementation of the data warehouse, store managers faxed aggregate sales data to the Finance department, where the information was keyed into spreadsheets and resulted in summary reports that weren't available to retail staff until the afternoon of the following business day. Store managers were unable to gauge quickly the impact of new promotions and make necessary adjustments. Also, the retail executive team did not have access to the detailed historical data needed to set new pricing or promotional strategies.

With the implementation of the new web-based reports, sales data is now available as early as 3:00 a.m. the following day, and contains highly detailed information on goods sold. Sales data can now be measured at any level, including by the unit, product, category or price point. Comparative analyses by store, region, time period, promotion or any other parameter can be run quickly and easily.

"Now the data is accessible to everyone and enables us to forecast the success of specific sales and promotions at the store level with a higher degree of accuracy," said Jim Ahrens, VP Finance, who was responsible for the Retail Division at the time of implementation. "We can now tell exactly what is selling well at which stores and where we need to redistribute product to improve sales. Plus all of our store personnel, down to our Assistant Managers, can see for themselves exactly how well their store is doing and where they need to focus their efforts."

"The InfoWorld 100 recognizes companies like Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, that made the best use of technology to enhance their businesses," stated Steve Fox, editor-in-chief of InfoWorld. "Goodwill built an innovative Web-based data warehouse to meet critical technical and business objectives." InfoWorld readers, technology partners and end-user companies nominated candidates for the award. Every year, InfoWorld names 100 companies that have made the best use of information technology to meet their business and technical objectives. This year, the list of technologies implemented by winning companies ran the gamut from Web Services to Wi-Fi, with project budgets ranging from $35,000 to more than $50 million.

At a cost of approximately $45,000, Goodwill's project budget was among the lowest, with only $5,000 for hardware, nothing for the public domain, open-source software and six months of part-time in-house labor costs. "Similar commercial systems can cost as much as $300,000, so people often assume that nonprofits operate with antiquated systems," said Campbell. "This award is validation that we can operate as a 'best in class' organization, while still serving the community in the most cost-effective way possible."

To view the full list of Infoworld's Top 100 winners, visit http://www.infoworld.com/565.

About Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo & Marin Counties

Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo & Marin Counties is a not-for-profit, social enterprise affiliated with Goodwill Industries International. Founded in 1916, Goodwill's mission is to train, support, and challenge individuals to overcome employment barriers and achieve self-sufficiency through work. Last year the organization provided job training, vocational counseling and employment services to over 2,200 people who faced significant barriers to employment due to homelessness, long-term welfare dependency, disability, incarceration, substance abuse and language barriers. Goodwill of San Francisco's service programs are funded through the sale of donated goods in its 19 thrift stores and boutiques, through private and governmental grants, and through the generous financial support of individual donors. Through its Resource Recovery Program, the agency also makes a significant contribution to the reduction of the waste stream in the three counties of San Francisco, San Mateo & Marin by recycling over 1000 tons of unsellable items per year, thus diverting these goods from landfills. To learn more about Goodwill's programs and services visit www.sfgoodwill.org.