Retailers and CPG companies have had a symbiotic relationship for decades, teaming up to offer customers more choice in convenient in-person and ecommerce storefronts. As both take on each other’s challenges, they must learn from the other’s processes and best practices to sustain new revenue streams in the long term based on evolving consumer behaviors, preferences and spending habits.
With the anticipation of lower foot traffic in stores coupled with inventory concerns, prioritizing your ecommerce channel from a planning perspective, even at the intentional detriment of having lower stock levels in stores, may save sales during this peak holiday shopping period. And omnichannel is no longer an option.
With peak season upon us, vetting prospective ecommerce 3PLs should focus on their ability to execute under peak conditions. While some may be good at a few aspects of ecommerce operations, the ability to scale up is crucial, and doing so end to end is a rare quality indeed. Here’s how to separate the 3PL posers from the pros.
The outsourcers who can truly do it all according to each brand’s requirements are the real pros. 3PLs that can’t do it all – at scale – are just posers.
Retailers are constantly being told to innovate and offer the latest and greatest tech in their stores whenever possible. While retail technology can move the needle on critical KPIs, change can also intimidate customers who are hesitant to try new technology. So how do you satisfy tech progressives and traditional shoppers?
Dick’s Sporting Goods, like Target and Walmart before it, is seeing strong results in the pandemic era, increasing overall sales 19.8% in the fourth quarter, while ecommerce was up 57% and same-store sales increased 19.3% as its omnichannel execution excelled.
Coming after a year of economic contraction and retail disruption, the 2020 peak holiday season threatened to be brutal on retailers. While some retailers had exceptional results, operational challenges limited opportunities. See what a recent study revealed about the impact of pre-peak investments on reducing capability gaps.
Omnichannel operations are the future of brick-and-mortar and DTC retail.
The past year has redefined how Americans shop. Ecommerce, BOPIS and curbside are table stakes, and free shipping is expected. What exactly does that mean for ecommerce fulfillment operations? Now more than ever, they must be strategic, sophisticated and responsive. Here are 10 key areas to pursue in 2021.
As expected, Black Friday 2020 saw tremendous success online but was a bust in stores, as shopper behavior has been altered irrevocably by the ongoing pandemic. Adobe Analytics reported $9 billion in ecommerce sales on Black Friday, up 21.6% from $7.4 billion in 2019. Store traffic meanwhile was down 48% to 52%.
It’s been a wild year for retailers. The homestretch of 2020 finds most of them hoping to over-perform and make up for time and money lost to the COVID-19 crisis. Do American consumers have enough left in the tank (and the bank account) to provide a much-needed boost? Let’s examine that question by looking back to October.
The pandemic has brought about challenges to every organization, forcing them to reexamine their business models and operations. But it has also shown their resilience. As retailers and brands look to pave the path forward, they need to continually adapt and keep a critical eye on what’s working and what’s not.