Merchant Investment in Operations & Fulfillment is Growing
“In order to remain competitive, we strive to be more efficient every year. This was a challenging holiday season due to Thanksgiving falling so late in November. We were able to handle the increased business in December smoothly due to Data Management Associates and our ecommerce provider integrating our website and call center orders in real time using Web Services directly into MACH Software. We are already making notes on changes to improve holiday 2014,”said Ann Killeen, VP Operations, Montessori Services, Inc, Santa Rosa, CA.
In addition, retailers are building and investing in operations infrastructure to prepare for the growth. “Distribution centers face complex challenges that demand flexible, dynamic operations. Multichannel distribution is revolutionizing the industry,” explains Tom Rentschler, vice president of sales and marketing at FORTE. “In a recent Peerless Research Group study of multichannel distribution challenges, the majority of respondents indicated that they are investing in their operations within the next year to keep pace. The top investment areas were software and technology (72%) and automated systems (44%).”