Omnichannel supply chain is a very important aspect for any seller. If you have a strong omnichannel supply chain, you’ll have the ability to stay competitive. And that can have big time profitability growth.
But what does a strong omnichannel strategy look like? For one, you need to have order fulfillment and returns across all location, physical and digital enabled. This delivers a powerful user experience that customers love. And if customers are happy, you grow.
The challenge, however, comes when you give customers a number of ways to make product purchases, receive those products, and return them. Did you know that more than 90 percent of sellers have an omnichannel supply chain strategy?
If you’re a seller that is still perfecting your omnichannel strategy, the following top 4 ways to make omnichannel a thing could serve pretty useful. Let’s take a closer look!
Consumer demands continue to change, and your operation needs to be sophisticated and flexible enough to cover those changes. This will allow you to meet customer expectations, and this is critical for sellers. Because if you don’t, your competitors surely will.
For instance, next-day or same-day delivery is the norm. Having lightning-fast orders with accuracy integrated into your omnichannel strategy will keep your ecommerce store at pace with the norm. You can also utilize tech like automated pick, pack, and ship processes to assist.
The fulfillment of products and returns have become complex. This makes it a must to have a complex, yet easy to use inventory management system in place. A Warehouse Management System (WMS) can help simplify processes within your overall omnichannel strategy.
Are your operations optimized to the max? If not, this should be on your list for making your entire omnichannel strategy efficient and effective. This is where warehouse design becomes essential, since it can reduce picking time, as well as creating more space to build out other must-have warehouse processes.
Implementing new technology, as well as recruiting and retaining an expert operations team is also very important to your omnichannel supply chain strategy. Oddly, this aspect doesn’t begin on the warehouse floor, but rather in the HR department, and deeply embedded in your company culture.
Ecommerce growth has made returns a real issue for sellers in every industry, niche, and location. Consumers are bringing the in-store shopping experience home, and sellers need to account for this. This means implementing a very strong reverse logistics processes into their omnichannel strategies.
If you get returns right, making them easy for customers, as well as your business, it will pay off down the road when it comes to customer loyalty and repeat sales. So aim to make easy returns actually easy!
The above ways sellers can make omnichannel a thing are only the tip of the iceberg. Each point above needs a deep dive with research and maybe even a bit of trial and error. Make omnichannel a thing in 2020 and stay highly competitive for maximum sales. What’s your omnichannel strategy?
Want to partner with a marketplace that has a powerful omnichannel supply chain and strategy? Contact American Outlets today.