With the pandemic causing supply bedlam and a shift towards e-commerce , fulfilment is more important to the bottom line than ever before
LOGISTICS
With the pandemic causing supply bedlam and a shift towards e-commerce , fulfilment is more important to the bottom line than ever before
WRITTEN BY : SEAN ASHCROFT
T
Traditional customer purchasing patterns were already changing back in 2019 , with a strong trend away from bricks-andmortar shopping and towards e-commerce . The pandemic accelerated this to an incredible degree .
The industry has also seen a move away from a multichannel retail strategy approach to omnichannel - the seamless integration of the buying experience across all channels . Of course , the pandemic also threw in plenty of supply disruption , however one happened to buy products .
With such rapid change , on top of so many challenges , one area that retailers have had to look hard at is their strategy around fulfilment .
Recent research from US software consultancy , Blue Yonder , analysed responses from 300 senior logistics and fulfilment executives in the retail and e-commerce industries .
The Future of Fulfilment Report In the resulting report , called The Future of Fulfilment , BlueYonder revealed that , in 2021 , more than half the usual number of retailers were planning to fully automate their fulfilment operations , in order to enhance the customer experience .
supplychaindigital . com 63