Direct to consumer is a trend that has grown hugely, offering multiple benefits for those brands and manufacturers that are looking to extend their customer reach beyond their traditional wholesale and retail outlets. (more…)
Magazine - Issue Type: White Paper
Flexible logistics that move at the speed of the customer
Today’s customers have high expectations around retail and in particular the delivery experience. They want their products fast, at their convenience and on their terms. The expectations around delivery have been reinvented, with an appetite fuelled by the experience offered by service-based companies from Airbnb to Deliveroo, as well as (more…)
Renewal and growth through skill and capability in retail
The Bis Henderson series of ebooks, produced in association with eDelivery, looks at the need for agility and flexibility to be at the heart of retail businesses and examines how retailers can best incorporate this within their supply chains to delivery responsiveness needed. The three chapters explore three fundamentals in (more…)
Focusing on post-purchase experience to boost customer retention
Retailers often focus on the journey to acquiring customers rather than what follows. The service and experience that is in place after the purchase is undeveloped in terms of experience, integration, polish and value-add. (more…)
The unboxing moment: Turning purchasers into customers
Retailers capitalise on the buying habits of consumers making a second purchase after they have made their first. (more…)
The technology and infrastructure needed for an agile landscape.
Agility and flexibility are two key capabilities that all retail businesses should be striving for. It allows them the speed and ability to react quickly to a retail market that offers new opportunities and challenges daily. Retailers are facing a new reality and supply chains must change. Consumers are becoming more demanding, wanting goods faster and delivered as and when they choose. (more…)
How to recruit and train for an agile and responsive supply chain
The logistics industry offers great opportunities for career development, yet it faces many challenges in both retention and recruitment. However as we saw in the first eBook, retailers are striving to deliver an agile supply chain to compete in this fast-paced and challenging environment. The industry needs to communicate these changes and new opportunities to engage and attract new talent. (more…)
Winning at Warehousing: Effectiveness
The way people shop is evolving at a fast pace. The traditional high street model is disappearing as timepressed consumers look for faster and more convenient ways of getting hold of their purchases. In order to be effective a Warehouse Management System (WMS) must be able to adapt to the changing needs of a market. (more…)
The ‘Wow’ and the ‘How’
Multichannel retailers create ‘wow’ moments to engage with and sell to consumers. As previous certainties are shaken by cyclical and epochal change, the search for ‘how’ to deliver on the promises is top of mind. Whatever our position in the shifting landscape, we share one imperative: to act wisely at pace. We consider our options to decrease the latency between idea and gaining advantage. (more…)
Why an agile and responsive supply chain is a must-have
Agility and flexibility should be at the heart of any retail business as it strives to react quickly to change and adapts to meet new customer demands. Today’s customer demands simply can’t be met if a retailer’s supply chain isn’t nimble and agile enough to respond. (more…)
Secondary Markets – A Commercial Introduction to Life After The Return
Returns are a growing problem for retailers. Coping with the volume, processing and cost of returns is a significant challenge for retailers who would rather concentrate on selling goods than taking them back. (more…)
Towards instant returns
Returns can be stressful for both retailers and consumers. Consumers demand fast and flexible solutions and thus retailers are having to improve their offerings and accommodate for this demand, otherwise they will lose custom. (more…)
Digital Store: The Customer Experience
While almost every retailer now understands the importance of providing a compelling online experience, fewer of them are extending the benefits of digital into their physical stores. Companies that do so can build the same personalisation and loyalty into the in store experience. However, challenges around staff and prioritisation mean that these benefits are often left unrealised.
This whitepaper, produced in partnership with Microsoft, explores these issues as it reveals the stark missed opportunity – our survey found that only 18 percent of retailers polled were happy with their in store experience. (more…)
Winning at Warehousing: Productivity
Productivity: the need to make your people productive Download your eBook The second in our Winning at Warehousing series of eBooks, we explore the concept of productivity. We look at the human aspects of efficiency to understand how staff can work with systems in more productive ways and deliver (more…)
Fit for purpose: The apparel fit trends report for eCommerce
As customers look to buy more and more of their clothing online, the onus is on retailers to provide as much information as possible about size and fit to ensure they are not disappointed. This is a challenge when sizing can vary widely across different brands and products. A transparent approach to fit online can pay dividends in the long run, with opportunities to increase loyalty and reduce returns rates.
In this whitepaper, produced in partnership with Rakuten Fits Me, we explore the challenges and opportunities of taking a tailored approach to fitting. (more…)
Warehouse Automation and Software Systems
With the warehouse the backbone of any retail business successful management of the processes and systems within it is vital. At some stage of a retailer’s growth some degree of automation of systems within the warehouse is a must as the need for efficiency and accuracy is further exacerbated by growth. (more…)
Optimising the store estate for omnichannel retailing
Omnichannel capabilities are a necessary factor for retailers selling online as well as operating on high streets. Store networks have been going through uncertain times with closures, reformatting and regeneration, kiosks and tablet devices being rolled out by digital teams to store colleagues, and click and collect services bringing in additional footfall and responsibilities. (more…)
Winning at Warehousing: Efficiency
Efficient running of warehouses can boost productivity and ensure the retailer manages to fulfil its aim of a seamless experience and order fulfilment, however doing so requires close management, control and understanding to ensure it operates at its best. (more…)
Order Management: The Engine for Omni-channel Growth
An Order Management System (OMS) is the central nervous system; the nerves and fibres that connect together all the silos of a retail business. It distributes the growing data and intelligence that all retailers have about their customers throughout the body-retail and, as such, is the engine for omni-channel growth. (more…)
Beyond ‘In Stock’: How fulfilment services can deliver the memorable experiences customers expect
Customers are increasingly likely to order online rather than buy items on the high street, more likely to shop around with the help of Google and Bing, and more likely to order multiple items before returning those they don’t want. Customers are demanding and expect to shop on their own terms. Retailers need to support this behaviour at the same time as differentiating themselves from competitors. (more…)