Over the course of this month, we’re rounding up predictions from industry experts on the trends that look likely to change ecommerce and multichannel in 2015. Today our focus is on fulfillment.
Ben Rund of Informatica says there’ll be a focus on bringing fulfillment into shops.
Store fulfillment and in-store experience will become a big investment area, and retailers will look to omnichannel solutions that provide transparency when it comes to inventory. This is all in aid of helping to manage customer expectations. For example, the use of digital devices and information panels will gain much more attention and retailers will increasingly use the store as a warehouse or deliver from the nearest store.
Danielle Pinnington, managing director of Shoppercentric points to increased uptake of click and collect.
Click and collect was the big winner this Christmas, with a range of retailers reporting big increases in this service. As long as shoppers had a positive experience then it is likely that this will boost usage of this service throughout 2015 and beyond. This opens up the opportunity for retailers to use the click & collect footfall to the benefit of their bricks and mortar stores by encouraging additional purchasing at the time of collection – a real example of multichannel retail.
Lars Schickner, director of Intershop‘s Innovation Lab, says customers will have ever greater expectations of retailers.
Instant gratification for the connected consumer: The connected consumer is impatient, so instant delivery is something we’ll see more of in the near future. Order now, have the goods delivered in under an hour – it’s a huge opportunity for retailers to stand out from the crowd and create that all-important competitive advantage. In a fiercely competitive market, optimising processes and going the extra mile to provide the best possible service will attract more shoppers and more orders. Similarly, brands will look into ways of enabling instant ordering – the consumer notices a product offline and with just one click, can find and immediately buy it online.
