“We’re out of stock at the moment, but I can ship it to your home.” – Enabling store associates to recover from out of stocks is one of 5 great ways to recoup your Order Management investment.
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he heart of any omni-channel strategy is order management. But, implementing an omni-channel strategy designed to meet the customer’s expectations while making money can be a challenge. The customer continues to demand more for less. According to a recent PwC and JDA Software survey, only 10% of retail CEOs say they are able to make a profit while fulfilling omni-channel demand (you can read more here). Where is the Return on Investment (ROI)?
Here are 5 ways a retailer can achieve a positive ROI with Order Management:
1. Save the Sale
Regardless of the retailer, out of stock inventory is always an issue. An automated capability to locate, reserve, fulfill and restock inventory, not only increases revenue for lost sales, but increases customer loyalty. As retailers add channels the placement of inventory becomes more difficult. Predicting supply and demand across different channels regardless of the planning and allocation tool is a huge challenge. These issues can be mitigated when an associate can find the merchandise, and reserve it, or have it delivered to the customer, regardless of where the transaction originated. The inventory visibility by location is one of the greatest attributes of order management. Fulfilling from an overstocked store reduces markdowns and increases revenue.
2. Buy Online and Ship to Store (BOSTS)
Many companies, such as Walmart, take orders online and ship the merchandise to the store for pickup. Having the customer visit the store for pickup results in an additional 25-35% increase in the purchase. This revenue increase, along with a transportation decrease (as the merchandise can be shipped on the usual DC-to-store truck), results in a strong ROI. With an order management solution, it is possible to aggregate store replenishment inventory with online orders. At the DC, the customer pickup order can be clearly marked and identified for staging versus store stock.
3. Buy Online and Pickup In-Store (BOPIS)
In many cases, the customer wants to see or try on their merchandise before completing the transaction. But, they don’t want to make the trip to the store unless the item of interest is available in store. CEOs surveyed said 51% of their companies plans to allow customers to buy online and pick up in-store in 2017, up from 47% last year. According to a Harvard Business Review survey, omni-channel shoppers who engage with retailers through online and offline channels spend 4% more, on average, every time they visit a brick-and-mortar store, and spend 10% more when shopping online. Order management provides the tool to orchestrate the demand in the store for pickup. This capability adds fulfillment flexibility while leveraging store inventory driving up return on assets.
4. Buy Online and Return In-Store (BORIS)
On average retailers have an 8% return rate. Retailers selling shoes, apparel, and electronics have anywhere from 10-17% rate. In the PwC and JDA survey, 75% of respondents said their online operating costs are increasing because of costs related to omni-channel returns. And 77%% said customer returns were eroding profits. Since customers expect free returns, profits can be diminished by 10-20% per year. Order management provides the store with customer history so that the associate knows the customer. A good associate can turn a negative experience into a positive one by offering the customer a complementary item to something they may already own. They also can reduce fraud by having a complete view of the customer’s transaction.
5. Buy Online and Ship from Store (BOSFS)
Many retailers are looking to use their stores to compete against Amazon. Their stores have become fulfillment centers or mini distribution centers for online orders. This process is an extension to the BOPIS process as an associate not only picks the merchandise, but they also ship it to the customer. Order management is the tool that provides the capability to pick, process, confirm the order for payment. The store uses order management much like a distribution center would use a warehouse management solution. But, it goes one step further by providing complete access and visibility to the order status. The customer knows what is happening at all times. BOSFS is a transportation savings tool by having the stores closest to the customer fulfill rather than paying shipping from the distribution center.
Using order management for these 5 business models, delivers ROI by having inventory visibility, leverage inventory, fulfill profitably, increase revenue and customer loyalty, and reduce shipping costs.