Amazon and Best Buy are both touting their expanded network of alternate pickup locations to deal with the holiday crush ahead of Black Friday, giving shoppers more options for getting their stuff fast. Amazon said it has Hub locations in more than 900 cities and towns, while Best Buy’s network is over 16,000.
A decision by the leadership team at jewelry retailer Kendra Scott to invest in an order management system ahead of last year’s peak season was a critical element enabling the company to quickly turn its fleet of stores into fulfillment centers and initiate curbside pickup, after shutting them down to the public due to COVID-19.
Compared to distribution or fulfillment centers, store inventory is often seen as the weakest link when it comes to SKU accuracy, with rates that can be as low as 65%. As omnichannel demand picks up, stores are playing a critical role in ecommerce order fulfillment. Here are some quick tips from an expert panel at Ecommerce Operations Summit.
If stores are the weak link in inventory accuracy, how do you improve it to avoid stock-outs and dissatisfied customers? Steve DeNunzio of Ohio State’s graduate logistics program covers the challenges and solutions in this MCM CommerceChat podcast. He’ll also lead this discussion at Ecommerce Operations Summit in Columbus, OH.
Looking to provide a different experience for a key demographic group, Abercrombie & Fitch will open two smaller footprint stores next month near college campuses that will have an omnichannel focus and serve as test beds for future expansion.
The Walmart and Jet acquisition will not impact peak season as both brands is planned to remain independent on the front-end side. Find out what both Walmart and Jet.com have planned going forward.
Target is moving full-steam ahead in being leaders in omnichannel. While the task wasn’t always so easy for the big box retailer, Target has come a long way. See what plans Target has in place and what the future holds.
Omnichannel retail order and fulfillment software firm SalesWarp has deployed its solution throughout the entire national chain of specialty youth apparel retailer Zumiez. See what decision criteria were used, and the benefits gained by the company.
Shoppers not only expect but demand flexibility and freedom to buy at their total convenience. This creates supply chain complexity around synchronizing inventory and orders coming from stores, websites, mobile, catalogs, etc.
Luring last-minute shoppers and merchants, Shopify and UberRUSH are offering free same-day delivery until Dec. 24 in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.