Reflecting on the seasonal shopping struggle

Shopping, Black Friday, queues, delayed deliveries – none of these words were far from the headlines during the most recent festive period. From reading the news it was clear that some retailers were comfortably capitalising on the Christmas boom, while others were disappointing customers and leaving shoppers’ stockings empty.

Click-and-collect at capacity

People enjoy buying goods but they don’t like waiting for them. That’s why 35 per cent of all online shopping is now click-and-collect, and it’s going to increase to 75 per cent by 2017. However, the click-and-collect hype this Christmas meant that some customers were spending half an hour waiting in store to collect or return their goods – not the speedy customer service they were expecting.

By far the most effective way to administer click-and-collect is to have network-wide inventory visibility. If an item isn’t already in stock at the store the customer plans to collect from, the retailer can have it shipped to that store for a collection later that day. This allows the retailer to profitably fulfil an order as quickly as possible, and maximises the chances of retaining that customer’s loyalty.

Black Friday

With Black Friday marking the beginning of the Christmas shopping countdown, those retailers with network-wide visibility of all stock were best positioned to maximise sales and also fulfil commitments to customers.

As customers demand more, retailers must deliver a seamless shopping experience regardless of channel and must have the flexibility to deliver goods when, where and how shoppers want them. Recent research by Manhattan Associates found that a quarter of people have boycotted a retailer following a disappointing festive delivery experience.

Delivery disasters

Spending on Black Friday in the UK was 50 per cent higher than expected – and with that came delivery delays as retailers and delivery providers were simply unprepared for the number of orders they took. With this, came the issue with returns.

With people going into a buying frenzy on Black Friday, buying multiple items in different sizes in order to nab a bargain, retailers also had to deal with the aftermath of those unwanted goods. Research by Manhattan Associates found that the average shopper returned 13 per cent of their purchases this festive season – and 65 per cent of those returns went back through the store. This leaves retailers a logistical nightmare as retailers need to focus on goods to make them available on the shelves again as soon as possible. This is all the more important in retailer sectors that have a high element of seasonality like fashion.

Customers simply will not stand for poor delivery or returns service – they’re impatient and time poor. There is no doubt about it: retail supply chains are being pushed to the limit. Next day delivery is the new normal – which implies retailers need a premium service and so many are now offering same-day delivery, or are at making the cut off time for ordering next day delivery later, to meet customer demands and be more competitive.

To fully satisfy customers during 2015 and over the next festive period, retailers need to offer a plethora of fulfilment options. To do this, retailers must have real-time visibility and complete control over all inventory in their network. Retailers with a bricks-and-mortar presence are well positioned to win the multi-channel battle – as a local presence allows for a tight order turnaround – and businesses that can’t fulfil at speed and keep their promises to customers will ultimately fail.