In September, Macy's announced plans to roll out the largest beacon initiative in the retail industry with its partner, shopkick, a shopping app that awards users points for entering participating stores. The company is joining a host of retailers that have already made strides toward beacon technology, including Lord & Taylor and Hudson Bay.
A hot topic among retailers, customers and logistics professionals alike for years, omnichannel fulfillment is finally here. Whether shopping in person, buying online and picking up in store, or having merchandise sent directly to them, customers expect access to the same inventory.
First and foremost, a dedicated holiday supply chain strategy needs to be in place at least six months before the holidays, says Doug Pasquale, senior vice president of supply chain solutions for Ingram Micro Mobility. It's always a good idea to begin planning immediately following the previous year's season and engage manufacturers and logistics partners as soon as possible.
A 2010 University of Florida study found humans began wearing clothing 170,000 years ago. Someone made those clothes from something, and that was the start of raw materials management. One could liberally argue early cave paintings of fur-bearing animals were the first inventory monitoring systems. RMM has come a long way, but we can do better.
It's no secret that the apparel, accessory and lifestyle world has long led the way in driving digital innovation across the retail frontier. Considering early initiatives around the convergence of in-store and online channels, several apparel pioneers come to mind – Macy's, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Gap.
The technology-driven shift to omnichannel shopping is the most transformative change to hit retail in decades. Yet in a global survey of CEOs conducted by PwC, only 22 percent felt this monumental shift would impact their organizations. Are these retail CEOs missing the boat?
The ubiquity of the internet and smartphones has made e-commerce and m-commerce grow by leaps and bounds. But fear not, brick-and-mortar retailers: in-store shopping isn't going anywhere. In fact, brick-and-mortar retail still drives more than 90 percent of commerce, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
For retailers who want to remain competitive in this shop-anytime-anywhere world, omnichannel fulfillment strategies must be done right, and done quickly. Significant new demands have been placed on retailers' supply chains. In omnichannel fulfillment, all the resources of the supply chain are focused on transparently serving a single shopper who has placed a single order.
