Yes, you, too, can be an inventory manager.

The NYT reported recently that Nordstrom has opened up their in-store inventory system to customers. (See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/business/24shop.html?scp=2&sq=nordstrom&st=cse). An online customer can order an item they like from any store or from Nordstrom's warehouse system, providing them the access that many stores don't even provide their own workers. In-store customers can have this done by a salesperson.

Nordstrom is famous for taking risks, most notably in the form of their rule book that says that there are no rules. One suspects that they are out in front of a trend in this case, though, and won't be the only firm to offer such a service. (While shopping at another department store recently, in fact, I had a clerk checking for an item I wanted in the store's inventory system. He found one in a nearby store, but when he called there to double-check, no one answered the phone! There's always a right way and a wrong way to do something.)

This is an extension of the idea of co-production of services, wherein customers become temporary employees (unpaid, of course) of the firm in order to enact the service they want. Other examples would include getting your own soft drink in a fast food restaurant, or pumping your own gas (which New Jersey stubbornly refuses to allow.) Here, Nordstrom has made customers a part of their logistics operation, letting online shoppers check and move inventory. Doing so, the article states, has helped to increase Nordstrom's inventory turnover ratio significantly.

In most cases, this is a win-win: customers will generally be happy to help Nordstrom manage their inventory if it results in getting that Hermes tie with just the right shade of green. It will be interesting to see how they manage this, given their reputation for highly personalized service, because that's the only potential downside: the loss of some interaction. A Nordstrom customer that shops by computer is getting the same level of personalized service that they get when they shop online using searchbots.

This is the challenge, then, for using technology and for increasing the level of customer co-production: keeping that personal touch intact. Shopping is still a social experience. In fact, if the customer begins to help to manage the product delivery, perhaps the sales personnel will have more time and inclination to be social.