TIDBITS

Bean to get bigger

Apparel, outdoor gear, and home goods merchant L.L. Bean plans to expand its 660,000-sq.-ft. Freeport, ME, distribution center by 50%. Spokesperson Rich Donaldson says the $32 million project should be completed by holiday 2007. This will allow the marketer to expand its mail order division as well as its retail replenishment division.

Is online service slipping?

While more holiday sales came online, a survey from Chicago-based consultancy The E-tailing Group indicates that marketers still have a way to go when it comes to online customer service.

With respect to customer service information, the secret-shopper survey found that toll-free phone numbers, which E-tailing Group president Lauren Freedman considers a “must have” feature, were present on 93% of the sites visited during the fourth quarter of 2005, compared with 95% of the previous year's sites. The presence of a guarantee dropped to 62% from 71% in 2004. Just 88% offered 100% satisfaction in 2005 vs. 93% the previous year. The presence of FAQs dropped from 84% to 73%.

Despite an extra day on the pre-Christmas calendar, holiday shipping deadlines were earlier. Only 15% of the sites surveyed extended standard shipping cut-off dates beyond Dec. 19 compared with 23% in 2004.

“Despite double-digit sales growth, merchants must remain vigilant and keep customer service top of mind, as consumers have long memories,” Freedman says.

OfficeMax opens supersize DC

Itasca, IL-based OfficeMax has opened a 120,000-sq.-ft. distribution center. The Aurora, IL, facility is nearly three times larger than OfficeMax's previous DC, also in Aurora. “We simply outgrew our previous location and needed to move to a larger location to maintain an efficient system of servicing our customers,” says Scott O'Farrell, general manager of OfficeMax's Denver distribution center. The new facility serves OfficeMax's business and retail customers in New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, along with those in parts of Utah and Nebraska, delivering office supplies daily.