By Brian Hodgson, Descartes Systems Group
The retail landscape is changing dramatically, with consumers flocking to online shopping in droves, especially during the holidays. According to a report by Adobe, 53 consecutive days this holiday season will exceed $1 billion in online sales, a 71% year-over-year increase; Cyber Monday is expected to be the largest online shopping day of all time, generating $3.36 billion in sales.1
With the lines between the offline and online shopping experiences blurring, consumers no longer differentiate between channels and expect a seamless experience no matter how they choose to shop. To stay relevant and ensure last mile profitability, retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers alike must adopt an omnichannel strategy that delivers a consistent customer experience across all devices and touchpoints.
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Integration Drives Shopping Experience
With shoppers expecting to access their favorite brands wherever, whenever and however they desire, retailers and suppliers must eschew the silo mentality in favor of an integrated supply chain and automated order fulfillment process across all channels. To this end, cost-effective cloud-based applications that manage e-Commerce, logistics and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are lowering the barrier to entry for small-to-medium businesses such as Lionel Racing.
Lionel Racing provides NASCAR collectibles to customers through five fulfillment channels: e-Commerce, mass retailers, dealer/wholesaler, direct-to-consumer and corporate. By integrating NetSuite (ERP), SPS Commerce (EDI), and UPS WorldShip (shipping) with Descartes OzLink™ for NetSuite, Lionel automated its order-to-delivery workflows to meet the unique requirements of each channel, including branded packing lists, ASNs and customized shipping labels. Descartes OzLink is an advanced software solution that helps retailers and other distribution-intensive companies streamline order fulfilment processes, automate shipping practices and minimize warehouse costs in an omnichannel environment.
Streamlined Shipping
Consumer expectations of same day/next day shipping are a challenge in the omnichannel landscape. With shrinking lead times, retailers must close the information gap between ERP and e-Commerce to enable flexible, responsive fulfillment, while simultaneously providing real-time inventory and order visibility. Companies are turning to advanced technology to:
- Optimize carrier selection using automated business rules;
- Eliminate error-prone and labor-intensive manual processes; and
- Support sophisticated drop-ship functions with branded packing slips and third-party billing.
Walck’s 4 Wheel Drive, a leading retailer of restoration parts for Willys Jeeps, streamlined and automated its shipping processes with Descartes OzLink, achieving 75% to 95% improvement in processing time. By integrating seamlessly with Walck’s Magento (e-Commerce) and UPS WorldShip applications, Descartes OzLink helped the retailer improve customer service by solving shipping issues that had been plaguing productivity, such as managing the tracking and shipment of partial orders.
Warehouse Efficiencies
Supporting multiple fulfillment channels has a huge impact on the warehouse. Savvy small businesses are tackling these inventory challenges by implementing automated order fulfillment processes that share information between ERP, e-Commerce and carrier services applications. With wireless picking and barcode scanning, companies can increase fulfillment accuracy and control costs through order validation, consistently ensuring the right product is expediently shipped to the customer. In addition, guided walking paths in the warehouse optimize picking, putaway and inventory moves to increase productivity.
Incipio, a supplier of technology solutions for active mobile consumers, uses mobile barcode scanners in its warehouse to efficiently pick single and multiple orders with 90% greater accuracy than before using Descartes OzLink for NetSuite. In addition, mobile scanners enable better inventory visibility and support daily cycle counts, eliminating Incipio’s need for physical inventory counts.
As online shopping continues to accelerate, omnichannel strategies that prioritize agility, responsiveness and cross-channel visibility will be paramount for growth. An automated, integrated logistics and supply chain management solution will help to ensure a seamless customer experience — from shopping to delivery to returns — regardless of channel. Is your business up to the omnichannel challenge?
Brian Hodgson is VP Sales & Marketing at Descartes Systems Group. He is an entrepreneurial executive and angel investor with expertise in M&A, sales, marketing, business development, channels, strategy for cloud and B2B software.
