With each day that passes, technology is changing. Remember when we used to have to drive to a store to buy clothes or even groceries? What?? Drive to an ACTUAL store?? Actually have to talk to people?! This is becoming a way of the past. With changes in technology, society today expects things to be easy and convenient. Many people do not think that going to a brick and mortar (B&M) business, looking through racks of clothes or isles of groceries is convenient or easy. They find it is more convenient to go online, find the items they want, and simply “add to cart.” Having purchases delivered to their front door is much more convenient. At the very least, driving to the grocery store, pulling into a special lane, opening an app on their phone to let the store know they have arrived; then someone delivering their groceries right to their car. Now let’s talk about CONVENIENT!
Because of these technology changes B&M shopping is slowing diminishing. Online shopping is the way of the future. This trend brings many challenges for businesses - not only for the store selling the merchandise but also for the distribution and fulfillment centers that fulfill the orders. Society has become accustomed to fast deliveries, free shipping, and convenient ordering. Many B&M businesses are increasing their online presence and ordering availability; meaning, they also have to learn how to process orders and ship them quickly. Online ordering adds additional overhead expenditures for businesses. They must be able to manage this while also providing the best customer experience possible. Fulfillment centers and distribution centers are tasked with fulfilling customer orders fast and getting as much out the door as quickly as possible. Challenges for both B&M businesses and distribution centers can include shipping costs, customer experience, labor costs, returned shipments, and more.
However, there are countless tools available to help with these challenges. Software to help with order processing, electronic picking, rate shopping shipping costs, and incorporating marketing into your packing slip.
It all comes down to finding the right resource for each area and determining the solution that works best for your business.
Contact me for more Information:
(800)-821-4021 ext. 4052