Almost two years ago, L.L. Bean began to move investments from infrastructure and staffing to prospecting and advertising. The results are just now coming in

By Reported Donna Loyle

That said, however, we still have been able to reduce our prices by about 5 percent this year. And our return rates have dropped, too. We think that’s because of the improved quality and better vendor cooperation.

CS: How exactly was Bean able to reduce its price points?

Fuller: Before, if we wanted to buy 100 shirts, we’d source, say, 20 from Vendor A, 20 from Vendor B, 40 from Vendor C, etc. Needless to say, we’d get slightly different shades and fit from each vendor.