Holiday Sales Outlook: Modest Growth, Online Downturn in Q1 2006
With gas prices and consumer confidence being what they are, it’s unlikely that merchants are expecting bountiful sales growth this year, and industry experts now confirm that they won’t get it. Here’s a roundup of holiday sales predictions from the major research and consulting firms: ...
Hurricane Katrina Offers Lessons for Distribution Network Planning
Political pundits may differ over the government’s handling of recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina, but there’s no controversy about the lessons that supply chain planners can learn from the disaster. The following are some critical pointers that Forrester Research Inc. has put together:...
Holiday Sales Outlook: The Pundits Say...
With gas prices and consumer confidence being what they are, it's unlikely that merchants are expecting bountiful sales growth this year, and industry experts now confirm that they won't get it. ...
Multimedia Contact Centers Face Major Challenges, Study Finds
We take it for granted that multichannel operations have changed retailing in ways we couldn’t ever have imagined, but we often forget one area where that change is even more far-reaching—the call center. Traditional call centers are now almost entirely a thing of the past. With today’s multimedia “contact” centers being called upon to provide a plethora of services, managers face serious challenges with regard to hiring, training, and evaluating staff....
Warehousing: Should You Choose an ERP or a WMS?
As distribution/fulfillment systems become more powerful and offer more features, it’s harder to distinguish among them—and therefore tougher to figure out just which application is appropriate for managing your operation. Take your enterprise planning (ERP) system, for instance: It comes with a “free” warehouse module. Why, then, should you invest in a separate warehouse management system (WMS)? Unfortunately, the issue isn’t quite that simple, as a new white paper from HighJump Software, a 3M Company, and TKR Associates points out. There are numerous factors to consider, such as each system’s total cost of ownership and competitive advantages, before you can select one that is truly beneficial and cost-effective....
Study Offers Ways to Improve In-Store Pick-up of Online Purchases
More and more customers are buying products over the Web and picking them up at a store, but the process isn’t as seamless as it could be, reports a survey of 15 merchants conducted by the e-tailing group inc. Although in-store operations have improved considerably in the past year, some inconsistencies remain, such as store hours not being indicated on Web sites, order pick-up times not stated, and not enough days allotted to pick up purchases. The e-tailing group offers the following checklist to improve the buy-online/pick-up-in-store process:...
Special Report: Salvaging Your Operations After Hurricane Katrina
Businesses will take months to recover from the enormous damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, but here are some things you can do immediately to stabilize your operations, says logistics expert Debra Ellis of Wilson & Ellis Consulting: 1. Hold shipments to the areas that were hit until you verify that customers can actually receive them. Check with your parcel delivery service to determine which areas are unavailable for delivery. While the carrier will hold the items in transit, this increases the possibility of lost shipments....
The Four Habits of Highly Effective Organizations
Of course you want to turn your operation into a top performer—and like most managers, you’ve probably been exposed to numerous workshops, training sessions, and corporate retreats (not to mention being required to read the Stephen Covey bestseller “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”) for this purpose. We suspect, however, that these exercises have been neither easy nor wildly effective. One strategy that you may want to consider is the DCOM model developed by CLG, a global consulting firm based in Pittsburgh....
How to Manage Handwork Efficiently and Profitably
Facility automation may be all the rage, but there are several fulfillment jobs that require kitting, packing, or assembly by hand. Unfortunately, few DC managers plan adequately for handwork projects. Tom Quinn, director of fulfillment services for the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association, offers some recommendations for making handwork successful and profitable: Provide enough space. To be completed quickly and efficiently, handwork jobs must be given sufficient room in the facility. Often, these projects are squeezed into a space that does not allow for components to be laid out properly, making for inefficient workflow. If extra space is not available, additional time should be factored in to account for the same piece being handled several times. ...
Click-to-Callback Eases Multichannel Operations
Your Web sales are doing great, but like many retailers, you’re also seeing many of your customers doing their research online, then ordering the product by phone—overloading your call center and pushing up operating costs. A simple technical solution can alleviate this problem, according to a report by Forrester Research Inc. analyst Bob Chatham....
Pre-Employment Tests Surging in Popularity, Survey Finds
Now that the economy appears to be recovering—however anemically—companies are finally paying attention to a long-neglected part of their operations: staffing. And in the years during which HR was relegated to the back burner, approaches to pre-employment testing have changed markedly, reports a new survey of 210 executives conducted jointly by the Boston-based research firm AberdeenGroup and the Human Capital Institute, a think tank in Washington, DC....
How to Fire Up Employee Performance
You’ve tried pizza parties and ice-cream socials, holiday bashes and casual Fridays—all to no avail. Employees continue to complain, and the low morale in your facility is infecting other parts of the company. What do you do? Take a tip from the marketing pundits and “sell” your company to its workers, advise the authors of Light Their Fire: Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and WOW Your Customers (Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2005, $23.00). Marketing pundits Susan M. Drake, Sara M. Roberts, and Michelle J. Gulman assert that the best way to deal with ho-hum employees is to kindle their enthusiasm for the company and the brand. And no, this isn’t just an “HR thing”—firing up employees is a CEO-level priority, the authors emphasize. ...
Warehousing Construction, Occupancy Expanded in 2004, Report Says
Commercial warehousing facilities have been in a slump for a few years, but the market is on the upswing, according to year-end surveys conducted by ProLogis, a global distribution solutions provider. During the second half of 2004, newly started bulk distribution and warehouse projects expanded. In the nation’s top 30 markets, total new starts amounted to 54.2 million square feet (msf) during the second half of 2004, a 33% increase over the square footage recorded in the first half. The previous warehouse construction boom peaked during 1999-2000, and total new warehouse starts in the top 30 markets topped out at roughly 125 to 130 msf a year....
Global Operations Prefer Outsourcing Trade Management, Study Finds
Even if your business isn’t a mammoth multinational, chances are you conduct or expect to conduct some form of trade with a foreign country. But managing the process all by yourself is fraught with risk, according to a new report from ARC Advisory Group. Based on in-depth surveys of eight major U.S. companies, the report concludes that global trade management is not a core competency for most firms and that outsourcing the process typically works better. ...
How to Think Like a Customer
We’re told that the marketer always puts the customer first, but actual experiences often prove us wrong. Logistics expert Debra Ellis of Wilson & Ellis Consulting takes us on a trip to the movies—where reality, she discovers, is far grimmer than the fantasies onscreen: ...
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