10 Supply Chain Strategies for eCommerce Businesses
The percentage of online sales compared to in-store sales continues to rise, and multichannel retailers’ supply chain strategies need to keep pace. Those engaged in e-commerce have more options all the time. Here are ten possibilities to consider:
1. Internet customers expect faster delivery, and having multiple distribution points can provide improve delivery times.
2. Being closer to the customer can lead to outbound freight savings.
3. There can be advantages to processing imports in a western distribution center. The advantages can be cost or time.
4. If DCs that are close to domestic vendors can attain inbound freight savings. You can receive product from a vendor in the closest facility and redistribute it.
5. There is a tight labor market. Multiple DCs allow the splitting of labor pools.
6. Redundancy of operations can provide continuity backup in exchange for potentially duplicated overhead expense.
7. There may be local incentives available for relocation.
8. Overall inventory management will improve out of necessity due to potentially increased inventory levels.
9. As the direct-to-customer base increases, it should provide increased liquidation opportunities.
10. It is a good supply chain strategy for multichannel retailers to capitalize on the synergy of different channels and meet the expectation of customers whether direct-to-customer or retail that is, provided multichannel retailers develop their infrastructure of facilities and order management systems.
A good indicator that this type of supply chain strategy is working is the measure of market penetration as a percent of sales by state for the local distribution center.
If you’re interested in more information on these and other supply chain strategic possibilities, contact Jeff Barry at jbarry@fcbco.com, or call (804) 740-8743. F. Curtis Barry & Co. is a national consulting firm that works with eCommerce, catalog, retail, manufacturing and wholesale distributors on projects focuses on supply chain strategies, order management systems, warehouse management systems, inventory management, third party logistics, and to reduce freight costs.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
