Multichannel / Operations
Retailers Race Towards Faster Fulfillment
- 20th May
- Neha Kale 289
Retailers such as the Gilt Groupe and Urban Outfitters are addressing rising customer expectations by heavily investing in shipping and fulfillment.
Retailers in the US are ramping up their shipping and fulfillment practices to meet customer expectations of fast and precise delivery. Efficient fulfillment strategy is key to the success of sectors such as flash sale retailing, made popular by the likes of HauteLook and the Gilt Groupe. The flash sale business model depends heavily on the merchant’s ability to buy, receive, pick and ship orders with a minimum of fuss. “The supply chain itself has been our Achilles’ heel in this company for the last couple of years, as it is for any company scaling like us,” the Gilt Group’s Vice President of Operations, Christopher Halkyard told Internet Retailer.
He said that the key obstacle for the Gilt Groupe was that while only 10% of its inventory is on sale every day, it’s generally a different 10% from day to day. The company tackled this logistical issue through an automated fulfillment technology by Kiva Systems. The technology simplifies the task of storing and picking various items without moving too many heavy loads in the warehouse while helping the business keep up accuracy levels – the system’s scanners emit warnings when the wrong item is scanned.
Multichannel retailers such as Urban Outfitters, Macy’s Inc and Toys R’US are also seriously investing in fulfillment. Urban Outfitters recently announced plans to build an 895,00 square foot fulfillment centre in Nevada to serve its thriving online business while Macy’s have started building a $150 million warehousing facility to keep up with online demand.
