The green monsters
It's not a great time to be a print cataloger, and I'm not even talking about postal rates and paper prices. Your business is under attack by environmental enthusiasts that want to help people get off your mailing lists....
WMS WATCH
Your distribution center needs to be able to control inventory movements, from receiving and put-away to picking and packing, as well as the management...
Fulfilling Prophecies
You know it, we know it: These are tough times in the multichannel marketing industry on the front end and back end. And with many merchants now heading...
Customer experience at its best
We've discussed the customer experience and its relation to the brand, the creative platform, the marketing plan, and the merchandise concept throughout the year. Now let's look at building a sound channel-centric customer experience....
IWLA Starts C-TPAT Compliance Program
The International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA) recently announced a C-TPAT compliance program for third-party warehouses. The IWLA says its program is based on security best practices guidelines it has developed; the guidelines have earned endorsement of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). ...
DC Locations: Why Midwest is Best
For most merchants, it geographically makes sense to distribute goods from a Midwest-based distribution center. The central states are quickly becoming distribution hubs for companies all across the country. ...
Talking Operations With A Touch of Class
Rick MacDonald is facility manager for Huntingburg, IN-based home decor and cataloger Touch of Class, responsible for warehouse operations and maintenance, among other duties. MacDonald--also the son-in-law of Touch of Class president/CEO Fred Bell—took a few minutes out of his busy day to chat with O+F Advisor’s former editor Mark Del Franco....
The Fulfillment Doctor on… The Price of Free Holiday Shipping
What are the underlying reasons behind offering free shipping and processing to customers? Is this common practice in other companies in the multichannel industry? Can anything positive come from giving free shipping to our customers? ...
Quick Tip: Hiring a Phone Rep? Pick Up the Phone
You know you have to hire a rep for your call center, but you’re pressed for time and can’t even think about interviewing agents. While you will eventually need resumes and in-person interviews, but you can learn a lot from in initial phone call with candidates....
Making a Budgetary Case For Your Contact Center, Part One
Today’s changing contact center is multichannel, multimedia, multisite, multitasking, often creating multimeltdowns. The leaders in today’s centers must be prepared to perform at a high level, which requires funding. To access the funding, you have to make a case. But we must have the support and buy-in of senior management to accomplish our goals. ...
Eye on Offshore Call Center Outsourcing
The worldwide market for customer service outsourcing hit $12.2 billion in 2007, compared with $8.4 billion in 2004, according to Gartner Research.
The main reason it’s so popular? Marketers can save around 40% of their call center bills by outsourcing overnight or overflow calls, says Art Hall, principal with management consulting firm Marsel and Alvarez. ...
The Skinny on Call Monitoring
Managers typically monitor their agents' performance in responding to telephone calls, e-mail, etc. for purposes of quality control and training. Research shows that best-practice contact centers monitor 5 to 10 calls per agent per month. ...
The Case for Global Sourcing, Part II
Last week we asked, "Is global sourcing really worth it?" given that many executives are reconsidering whether or not they should be buying products from international sources. ...
Port Tracker: Container Traffic Drops Below Last Year
Traffic at the major retail container ports dropped below last year’s levels late this summer, and the peak monthly volume for 2007 is expected to fall slightly below last ...
Customer Intimacy: Getting Past the First 15 Seconds
Most call centers these days are tailoring their opening by balancing the requirements of their strategy and what their customers prefer. The best-in-class standard is not so much "agent first and last name" or "first name only" but rather what fits into the company strategy and customer segment. ...
The Case for Global Sourcing
"Is global sourcing really worth it?" For a variety of reasons, executives at many companies are reconsidering whether or not they should be buying products from international sources. ...
Developing an Effective Fulfillment Labor Budget
The conversion from sales forecast to operations budget is not difficult, but it does require a strong understanding of your operations. You also need to know and measured performance standards or reasonable expectancies for each labor activity performed within your warehouse. ...
Dark Days for Offshore Service?
Have you off-shored any of your customer contact operation? If so, how do you ensure there are no “dark and stormy” nights in your agents’ or customers’ experience?...
Solving Defective Items, Poor Packaging, and Inventory Discrepancies
A look at the three categories usually omitted from a fulfillment accuracy measuring system—defective item sent, damaged goods due to poor packaging and unpicked items due to inventory discrepancy. ...
10 Steps for Better Returns
Whether a returned item was the wrong size or was defective, you need a set of procedures for handling the product once it arrives in your warehouse. Fulfillment pro Curt Barry has a simple 10-step reverse logistics strategy. These tips can help you refurbish returns and get them back on the shelf for sale....
Measure for measure
The road to developing a successful metrics, measurement and benchmarking program starts very much like any successful plan in that it has to have a champion...
A Few Thoughts about WMS Integration
Every distribution center requires the functions provided by a warehouse management mystem (WMS) to control inventory movements, from receiving and put-away to picking and packing well as the management of returns. ...
The Fulfillment Doctor on…Cross-border Commerce
Q: I need a local fulfillment operation in Canada to effectively grow my business there. How would I proceed to develop an external fulfillment operation in Canada?...
Is Search So Easy A Caveman Can Do It?
In the history of advertising, no ad vehicle has come so far, so fast, as search engine marketing. To those of us who have been practicing SEM for years, it's amazing just how fast this space moves. Everyday there are new challenges, increasing competition and new technological advances that dazzle the mind. ...
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