Order Fulfillment
June 23, 2021 at 5:42 pm
Amazon.com's encroachment into grocery has been rapidly increasing in recent months and presents another array of challenges to traditional grocers that have fought to survive in last year’s digital world. At the end of April, Amazon announced the expansion of its in-garage grocery delivery service to all markets where it currently offers grocery delivery. This…
June 22, 2021 at 2:51 pm
2020 reshaped the current retail paradigm. And while brands are banking on some aspects of the shopping experience returning to “normal” post-pandemic, other changes brought about over the last year will be permanent. Chief among these is increased flexibility around order fulfillment, which necessitates much more refined customer communications. Options such as curbside pickup; buy…
June 17, 2021 at 11:30 am
To address the challenge of balancing inventory and gaining visibility into it, requirements for effective and efficient buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup programs, retailers are increasingly turning to automated technology solutions. They’re automating order and delivery flows with their product suppliers through the use of EDI (i.e., the electronic interchange of business…
June 10, 2021 at 6:57 pm
As more luxury brands sell direct to consumers online, they're constantly seeking ways to differentiate the experience and protect their most valuable asset: their brand. While a luxury brand may intuitively seem valuable, companies have long known there's real, measurable value in that brand. In fact, in the increasingly “digital first” world of commerce, the…
June 10, 2021 at 6:49 pm
It’s crunch time for retailers. A recent UBS report predicts that 80,000 retail stores will close over the next five years as the huge upswing in online shopping due to the pandemic becomes a more permanent consumer buying pattern. UBS also expects the e-commerce share of total retail sales to grow from 18 percent in…
June 10, 2021 at 5:06 pm
The use of automation technology to facilitate the seamless flow of information between product suppliers and retailers is critical to meeting consumers’ omnichannel fulfillment demands. Automation is necessary for retailers to not only satisfy their customers’ lofty expectations for buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup, but also to keep pace with their…
June 9, 2021 at 6:29 pm
During the pandemic, retailers faced once-in-a-lifetime headwinds, including closed physical locations, limited in-store capacity, slowed shipping times, and a customer that was oftentimes scared to leave the house. As a result, they turned heavily to buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and buy online, pick up at curbside (BOPAC) to make their customers’ buying journeys…
June 3, 2021 at 7:26 pm
The growth of omnichannel fulfillment programs such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup of online orders has been trending for several years now. That trend reached a tipping point in the last 12-plus months, as the COVID-19 pandemic led consumers to seek out safer, contactless shopping experiences. Equally embraced by consumers…
May 18, 2021 at 3:46 pm
After a year of buying everything from patio furniture to groceries online, consumers are more reliant on Amazon.com than ever, and more positive about the company. For retailers to fight back, they’ll need a two-pronged strategy: meet what are now industry-standard expectations for convenience and shipping efficiency, and spotlight key offerings where Amazon lags. Even…
May 6, 2021 at 5:02 pm
Pre-COVID, we saw the impact of online consumer demand growing and behavior adjusting, but brands often had time to analyze how they wanted to respond to it and when. Once the world shut down from COVID, that power quickly transitioned to the consumer, with brands forced to adjust almost immediately if they wanted any opportunity…
