Manage Your Supply Chain – Or Else
Operational efficiency. That phrase can send shivers down the spines of ecommerce and catalog retailers, especially during busy seasons. Battling with increased orders and unfamiliar customers, the holiday season exposes every chink in an e-retailer’s operations armor. So what did industry leaders find out about their retail fulfillment operations this season?
Over 50% of the 65 multichannel and store retailers analyzed in an Aberdeen Group study last November found they had no real-time access to their inventory levels or order data, while 30% of them had an average stock-out rate (that’s the ratio of the total value of out-of-stock items to total revenue) of more than 7%, which indicates lost revenue, lost opportunities, and most importantly, lost customers who may never come back.
Every ecommerce retailer wants to lower their operational costs but still have in-depth and real-time access to inventory data, fulfillment information, and supply chain stats. That means ensuring optimum levels of inventory – too much means unavailable warehouse space and tied-up revenue, while too little means lost profits and unhappy customers. The biggest business pressure faced by retailers (49% of those surveyed, to be exact) in 2012 will be the ability to react to demand changes in a timely manner as they face unpredictable buying behavior and market fluctuations.
Operational efficiency. Optimum inventory levels. Supply chain flexibility. It’s becoming obvious that ecommerce retailers will need to streamline their order fulfillment processes to match up retail operations with customer satisfaction. But how do you get started? One option for online retailers not looking to manage their day-to-day order fulfillment: using an outsourced single-source fulfillment provider. Not only will a single-source provider give you the benefit of fulfillment services and contact center services under one roof, but it will also keep your channels tightly integrated and branded in a consistent manner. Got a question about how that works? Let us know below!
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