Prepping Warehouses for the Holiday Rush: Ensuring Speed and Accuracy
E-commerce is poised to continue its aggressive year-over-year growth this holiday season, likely comprising an even bigger portion of overall retail revenue than ever before. According to Forrester Research, e-commerce is only a few years away from accounting for 11 percent of total retail sales. Unfortunately, many warehouses are still configured to serve only brick-and-mortar stores, and are hampered by old and inefficient systems.
In an era when consumer expectations are higher than ever, omnichannel retailers simply can't afford to make mistakes during the crucial holiday rush. According to a recent survey from Voxware, 69 percent of respondents are less likely to shop with a retailer online or by phone for future purchases if an item they purchase isn't delivered within two days of the date promised. Meanwhile, 86 percent of respondents indicated that their expectations for on-time and correct delivery are higher during the holiday season.
Retailers need to root out the inefficiencies in their warehouses that lead to costly errors and replace them with new systems.
Don't Let Outdated Systems Damage Your Customer Experience
Though sleek customer-facing online storefronts are an important component of any e-commerce strategy, the customer experience actually begins in the warehouse. Customers expect a perfect, seamless experience that can only be delivered with the most cutting-edge technologies. Companies can't afford the inefficiencies and headaches brought on by out-of-date paper-based picking systems or RF scanning solutions.
For starters, both systems lead to inaccuracies. Paper checklists are notoriously prone to human error. RF scanning forces warehouse workers to put down and pick up both a handheld scanner and products multiple times throughout the process, which increases the likelihood of errors. Paper requires workers to manually check and double-check their order, and RF scanning requires workers to stop and think about what task to do next each time they interact with the screen.
Even with the addition of seasonal hires, the nature of increased order volume during the holiday season combined with heightened demand for same-day and next-day shipping means that paper or RF scanning systems put companies at risk for shipping orders late and incorrectly.
Organize for Efficiency: Fix Poor Configurations
Shipping more orders directly to consumers is largely a boon for brands. For companies that would otherwise distribute to a third-party retailer or distributor, e-commerce distribution means capturing a higher margin. Since e-commerce and mobile commerce apps make it easy to reach consumers at every possible touchpoint, companies of all kinds can glean more customer data than ever before.
However, when managed incorrectly, e-commerce can actually turn into an expensive play. First, since most fulfillment facilities were built before the rise of e-commerce, they're configured to fulfill orders to brick-and-mortar stores, which means fulfilling individual orders for consumers adds incremental costs. After all, picking a full shipping unit worth of items takes proportionately less time per item than picking individual items for consumers. To keep up with changing demand, warehouse managers can't rely on outdated warehouse configurations. Companies need to configure warehouse storage in such a way that makes it easy to pick and pack single orders in an efficient manner.
The Solution: Update Systems and Reconfigure Your Warehouse
As worrisome as outdated systems and a poor configuration may be for retailers, they're actually relatively easy to fix. One of the best ways to address the inefficiencies and inaccuracies that can affect a brand long after the holiday season is by making the switch to voice technology.
Compared to paper and RF scanning solutions, voice technology is much more efficient. The hands-free nature of voice allows warehouse staff to pick orders without worrying about holding a scanner or paper checklist. In fact, Supply Chain Digest reports that companies that switch from RF scanning to voice regularly see a 26 percent increase in picking speed. Replacing paper systems with voice leads to similar improvements. Whole Foods Market experienced productivity gains of about 30 percent after replacing its paper system with voice in its largest distribution center.
Voice technology can also lead to greater accuracy. After Mt. Pleasant, a distributor of ice cream, frozen yogurt and related products, switched from paper to voice, picking accuracy increased to 99.8 percent from 99.5 percent — this is actually a significant difference when translated to the actual number of inaccurate picks. Voice providers that offer robust data and analytics can help companies recoup additional accuracy gains.
Quick to Deploy
Unlike many technology solutions, cloud-based voice technology can be fully implemented within 30 days. The best voice solutions are also easy to train, so new or seasonal workers can use the solution effectively within the first day. The accuracy and efficiency gains of voice technology will last long beyond this holiday season, not just in the warehouse but also in the form of an enhanced customer experience that ultimately boosts brand loyalty.
Keith Phillips is the president and CEO of Voxware, a provider of voice-based technology to support warehouse operations and supply chain performance.