The Changing Face of Retail

To cater for the new consumer attitude to shopping, we are seeing a sharp increase in retailers looking for a Healthcheck of their current system to assess what changes can be implemented to streamline their supply chain operation. This is driven by a need for more efficient processes to better meet the demands of a rapidly emerging e-commerce model.

The warehouse processes for picking in bulk for store replenishments differ greatly to the more labour-intensive process of picking individual products to fulfil e-commerce orders. Unlike forward planned store replenishments, there is more urgency with dispatching individual consumer orders, with customers beginning to expect next day delivery as normal service.

Implementing a mobile solution is a quick and easy way to transform warehouse operations and benefit from immediate improvements in operation efficiency and stock traceability. An intelligent mobility solution can manage end-to-end supply chain processes, with real-time visibility of stock inventory and system-generated pick tasks, enabling a significant increase in efficiency and productivity. This, in turn, ensures customer orders are processed, tracked and delivered quicker and more efficiently for an improved customer experience.

Mobile solutions can also bring benefits to the returns process, which can often be a lengthy and complex process. Returns typically need investigating to determine the reason for the return, while there is often multiple resources, transactions, devices and systems involved in creating, investigating and processing the return, along with the subsequent stock movement.

With a greater volume of products being returned direct by consumers, without any store intervention, a delay in processing these returns can cause pinch points in an operation and stall the flow of products through the warehouse. Implementing a mobile solution to enable one person to seamlessly manage the end-to-end returns process, including the ability to, capture and upload directly to SAP any picture evidence of damages or defects, significantly reduces the time involved with this process to enable stock to flow through the supply chain and back into circulation quicker.

PreBilt™ is our comprehensive suite of mobile applications, which have been designed to digitise any supply chain process within warehousing, manufacturing and distribution centres. To find out more about how PreBilt, or any of our other solutions, can help streamline your operation, or to arrange a Healthcheck of your current system, please get in touch.