Western Wear Outfitters

Situation: Western Wear is a mail-order firm that offers an extensive selection of casual clothing for men and women. Western Wear plans to launch a new Web site, and the company wants to develop a new set of product codes. Currently, 650 different products exist, with the possibility of adding more in the future. Many products come in various sizes, styles, and colors. The marketing manager asked you to develop an individualized product code that can identify a specific item and its characteristics. Your initial reaction is that it can be done, but the code might be fairly complex. Back in your office, you give the matter some thought.

1.       Design a code scheme that will meet the marketing manager’s stated requirements.

Some firms use a straight numeric sequence code, because it is simple and can be assigned automatically by the system. Other firms choose a significant digit code that indicates item, style, color, and size. A combination code might assign two digits for the type of item (10=hat; 64=belt), a dependent number for the style, followed by several digits that show details such as color and size. For example, consider the following design for Western Wear:

2.  Write a brief memo to the marketing manager suggesting at least one alternative to the code she proposed, and state your reasons.

     Students should be able to support their choice of code with business-related logic and reasons. You might bring in samples of mail order catalogs that use different code schemes or ask students if they are personally familiar with other codes.
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 3.     Suggest a code scheme that will identify each Western Wear customer.

           The two most common code schemes are straight sequence codes automatically assigned by the system and codes that combine alphabetic and sequence blocks. An example of the latter might be the first four alphabetic letters of the customer’s last name followed by a 4-, 5-, or 6-digit dependent number. For example, Jason Melville might be MELV28645. Many firms like this approach because it provides some indication of the customer’s last name (which is valuable both to the customer and the company).


4. Suggest a code scheme that will identify each specific order.

          Unless there is some other reason, the order entry system automatically assigns order numbers dependently. If it is desirable to code the source of the order (such as W for Web-based, or T for telephone), you could devise a code that includes an identifying character for this purpose.



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