Recent global survey focused on eCommerce retailers in these industry segments: hard goods, soft goods, CPG, e-commerce and grocery verticals, as well as a few related retail and consumer sectors. Objective of the survey was to show how Omni-Channel fulfillment is a challenge. Only 1 out of 5 companies said they can fulfill demand profitably. That is not all. Here are factors that are keeping decision makers awake at night:
Managing transportation and logistics as a fulfillment capability impacts profitability the most.
Same-day, or next-day delivery easier said than promised.
Omni-channel fulfillment is sure way to both increase sales and gain market share.
Check this short narrative how Macy’s is aggressively changing its community outreach to capitalize on millennials buying habits.
So what are these companies doing about this challenge?
There is a land grab going on. Number one focus is to get all the orders you can. They are investing precious capital to create innovative customer experiences, for both online and offline sales. Strategic growth enablers are reducing and reconfiguring physical store footprints to focus on expanding their e-commerce business. Positioning the right inventory close to customer delivery points is the winning formula.
Most companies are trying to figure out who leads this effort (functional department)?
The choice is between heads of: eCommerce/Digital and Supply Chain.
So what is new? Clearly it is widely accepted that Omni-channel stems from digital channels. They understand the chicken and egg metaphor and the competing interplay between increasing sales and meeting customer delivery promises.