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SAN CARLOS, CA (BRAIN)—Syncros Applied Technologies has added an e-commerce function to its Web site that allows consumers to purchase Syncros components online. The sale is then credited to and product fulfilled by independent bicycle dealers.

Syncros, which is owned by Ritchey Design, offers multiple categories of off-road bicycle products that can be difficult to stock at the retail level. The Web site function is designed to make the entire Syncros line available to consumers, utilizing Shopatron's e-commerce solution, which assigns online orders to retailers who have registered with them.

“Ritchey Design’s retailers have become the fulfillers of 85 percent of our orders since we added the Shopatron feature to the Web site in July of 2008,” said Steve Parke, general manager and vice president of marketing for Syncros. “We expect to provide the same sales opportunities to stocking Syncros dealers by adding Shopatron to the Syncros Web site. Despite the rise in online shopping, we and our customers understand that the Internet can’t replace the service interface of the independent retailer.”

When consumers place an order through www.Syncros.com, orders are posted in a special retailer queue called the Shopatron Coex Order Exchange. The following morning, Syncros retailers who have signed up with Shopatron can log in and see the open orders available, select them and then fulfill those orders from their own inventory, with the requirement that orders are shipped within 24-hours.

Open orders not selected by retailers will revert to Syncros USA for quick fulfillment.

In addition, the online store will provide Syncros and its IBD partners with historical sales data for inventory control and consumer direct e-mail marketing promotions to promote brand messages.

“The new site will provide a tell-tale for stocking Syncros items,” Parke said. “Retailers will be able to confidently carry Syncros products because we will be steering customers towards them with our online store.”

For more information about how to establish a Syncros IBD e-commerce account, contact Nate Shaw (nshaw@ritcheylogic.com) or Nick Hanni (nhanni@ritcheylogic.com).