Sterling Commerce Solves Retailers’ Out-of-Stock Dilemma

New Sterling Always in Stock Solution Combines Order and Inventory Management Capabilities So Retailers “Save the Sale” in the Most Cost-Effective and Customer-Pleasing Manner

Columbus, Ohio – Oct. 26, 2009 – In battling today’s uncertain economy, retailers are taking a risk by dramatically reducing inventory levels and creating dreaded stock-outs that disappoint customers and threaten their continued loyalty. Now, in an effort to make stock-outs a thing of the past, Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) company, today introduced Sterling Always in Stock. This new solution combines advanced cross-channel order management with seamless integration capabilities to enable retailers to improve the customer experience and preserve customer loyalty, while boosting sales and optimizing inventory efficiency.

When a customer is faced with an out-of-stock product, Sterling Always in Stock enables the sales associate or call center agent to find the desired item in the retailer’s network and the customer to choose a satisfying fulfillment method. Sterling Always in Stock is a preconfigured solution that combines modules from Sterling Multi-Channel Selling and Sterling Multi-Channel Fulfillment with an easy-to-use interface for sales associates and call center agents to optimize the entire “save-the-sale” business process. The solution utilizes a special order process that also can accommodate ‘endless aisle’ items. Once the transaction is complete, Sterling Always in Stock automatically triggers fulfillment from the designated location and provides complete order status visibility for the customer and the sales associate.

“Our customer satisfaction and loyalty is much improved when we can offer multiple fulfillment options to solve an out-of-stock or make the purchase more convenient, said Chap Achen, director, Multi-channel Order Management, at Best Buy, a long-standing Sterling Multi-Channel Fulfillment customer.

“Retailers are walking a fine line in the current economy, trying to balance reduced inventory levels while delivering a superior shopping experience,” said Jim Bengier, Retail Industry executive at Sterling Commerce. “Until now, store associates facing a stock-out had no effective means of saving the sale. Sterling Always in Stock demonstrates that Sterling Commerce not only understands the challenges of the retail industry but can deliver innovative solutions to solve them.”

Sterling Always in Stock provides three unique capabilities:

A guided, automated save-the-sale process combined with an easy-to-use interface for store associates and call center agents;

Configurable sourcing rules that steer the associate toward the most appropriate fulfillment options, as well as flexible sourcing logic to support advanced cross-channel fulfillment options, such as ship to home, ship to store, store-to-store transfer and hold for alternate-store pickup; and

Seamless integration capabilities that provide real-time visibility by integrating with POS, inventory management and warehouse management systems.

A video demonstrating how Sterling Always in Stock saves the sale can be found at http://sterlingcommerce.com/about/news/video/.

Only Sterling Commerce brings together the power of community, internal and external integration, and the cross-channel applications necessary to effectively address the visibility and management gaps of a retailer’s order lifecycle. The company’s offerings include Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite, a comprehensive solution for the entire inquiry-to-cash process, and Sterling Business Integration Suite, a complete solution for all integration needs, inside and outside the enterprise.

About Sterling Commerce

Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) company, helps companies optimize and transform their Business Collaboration Network to accelerate revenues and reduce costs. Sterling Commerce provides more than 30,000 customers worldwide applications and integration solutions to connect, communicate and collaborate inside and outside their enterprise. More information can be found at www.sterlingcommerce.com.