Have you ever considered selling on platforms outside of your web site? Have you noticed advertisements and marketing material from your competitors on social media? What you’re witnessing is the rise and new standard of marketing: multi-channel retailing. This marketing strategy enables e-commerce businesses to target customers and sell products outside of their web site, on channels like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, in addition to their brick-and-mortar store. Multi-channel retailing used to be a rising trend, but now it is the new standard for brands to be truly successful. If you want to know more about multi-channel retailing and are wondering how you can get started, keep on reading.

What Is Multi-Channel Retailing?

When a business has an e-commerce selling strategy that targets customers through channels outside its web site, (ex. social media, in-store, direct mail, etc.) this is known as multi-channel retailing. This solution has evolved to include multi-channel selling, where customers can view and purchase products on marketplaces, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, and other mediums.

Why Sellers Should Adopt a Multi-Channel Retailing Strategy

Easily Target Your Audience

Success is not based on just one channel—the most successful brands have a presence both online and offline, and they work consistently to optimize both. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you need to develop an online presence. If your store operates online, find a way to connect with your audience in-person. Aside from being available to your audience, you should also find ways to connect with them on an emotional level. Consider how your products improve their state of living. How does your product boost their confidence, make their life easier, or solve a problem? Communicate these solutions to your customers, and you will establish a stronger bond with them.

Compete Better in the Market

You should always be considering and strategizing how you can compete in the market. You can do this by ensuring your content is optimized, providing polite and efficient customer service, and making sure your keywords and social media optimization is on point. Another great tip that has worked for many brands, is selling your products via Amazon. By using their user-friendly, well-loved platform, you can optimize your business and sell more.

Gain More Control Over Your Brand

Losing control of your success with your retail business is always a risk, whether you have an offline store or an online store. Brick-and-mortar stores need to rely on repeat visits from customers, and can reach out to their local community, but this can be very limiting to increase revenue. Web stores can get overshadowed by competitors or slammed by sudden Google algorithm updates. To gain greater control over your brand, use a multichannel strategy. That way, your web site will pick up the slack when your offline store is struggling to gain new customers, and your terrific in-person presence can be a great introduction point to drive customers to your online store or web site.

How to Create a Multi-Channel Retailing Solution

Choose the Right Retailers

Your products, customers, and channels you use to target your audience will determine which channels you should sell on. Some options include big box retailers and online marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, or Target; or more curated and narrow-targeted retailers like Toys R Us.

Develop a Streamlined Strategy

Getting an omnichannel solution to your marketing strategy is more of the norm now, rather than a new trend. Some of your competitors may have already established themselves online and in-store, which means there’s no time like the present to catch up. This expansion of your presence sounds like a lot of work, but it provides a plethora of new opportunities for growth. The solution can be customized to your brand—so don’t assume there is a one-size-fits-all approach. You can add sales channels, platforms, and inventory in ways that suit your goals. By founding your multi-channel management on a solid foundation, you will achieve success like never before. Make sure the solution you choose takes care of your inventory needs, and adopt a management solution that collaborates between fulfillment, accounting, social media, shipping, and customer service. These management solutions will keep track of all aspects of your supply chain, so you won’t miss a beat.

Choose the Right Third-Party Solutions

Handling all these operational and marketing needs can be overwhelming without the right manpower, so using a third-party logistics (3PL) provider can do a lot for your business. Multi-channel marketing works best when your supply chain is in sync, but it takes a lot of work to get your products on the right channels, without getting stalled by connectivity or system issues between your marketing and your fulfillment. If you want to grow globally, or are expecting a high growth volume this year, you may not be able to juggle all the moving parts on your own. Therefore, choosing the right 3PL partner is the key to streamlining your marketing solutions with your background operations.

How Lean Supply Solutions Can Help

As mentioned, a 3PL provider can help you manage your operations so you can focus on making your business and brand more accessible to your online and in-store shoppers. These providers can help you manage your inventory management, shipping, receiving, returns, deliveries, and more, so you save time and money and speed up your success and revenue. If you’re looking for the right company to partner with, Lean Supply Solutions is the answer. We rise to the challenge of meeting our clients’ needs through our services which include product fulfillment, warehousing and distribution, e-commerce fulfillment, warehouse pick and pack, and order fulfillment. Lean Supply Solutions can offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about outsourcing to our 3PL distribution team or to ask any questions, contact us today.

No matter how the economy is doing, people will always find a way to shop for the things they want. They will go to the store or shop online to find the products they want and expect to have their deliveries arrive on the predicted date. If you have a brand within the fashion industry, this is both a challenge and an opportunity for you. If your organization doesn’t have optimized supply chain management, you won’t be able to meet your customers’ needs, especially during season changes and peak times of the year. To help you get optimized for success, here are the latest trends that are transforming the fashion supply chain process, and how you can get the services you need.

Automated Supply Chain

Data-driven software solutions and web-enabled technologies provide insight that allows business leaders to make better decisions about their daily operations. By automating your supply chain operations, you will be able to track and report, making your entire process more efficient. Today’s top apparel innovators have dropped manual spreadsheets and turned to automation and data integration to keep up with customer demand. Brands are expected to respond to changes in orders within 24 hours, as customers now presume that every retail operation has the systems in place to deal with last minute modifications and still provide quality and timely service.

Artificial Intelligence

Fashion companies today need solutions that align customer demand with product distribution. Apparel companies need to reduce profit-eroding markdowns while providing data on emerging trends in the industry that will propel them to success. Artificial intelligence (AI) has allowed many apparel companies to improve efficiency in warehouse operations and product design. AI uses deep learning to analyze extensive amounts of data derived from social media and the Internet and provides critical insights. It also analyzes sales to provide information such as which products are more popular and which products stay on the shelf.

Agile Supply Chain Methodology

Building flexibility and using interactivity can help you better respond to changes and disruptions. Having an agile supply chain methodology can help you achieve this goal. It can mean the difference between satisfying or disappointing your customer. In factory production, an agile supply chain ensures that your company will provide solutions quickly to avoid catastrophic delays in production. Some options that may work for you include adding new local distribution centers or growing physical resources to achieve greater agility to meet customer demand.

Wearables and Augmented Reality

Wearables and augmented reality (AR) have been used by consumers for a while now, but there are many benefits organizations have had from using it within the supply chain. AR can be used for order picking, equipment repair, and to enhance safety and quality. Smart glasses, for example, can be used to show the quickest route through a warehouse to get to a certain product, for increased speed and efficiency. It can also prevent employees from being tied to a computer, as information and instructions can be transmitted to them via wearables and AR technology. There are many applications of AR, and now is the time to take it upon yourself to learn how this technology can make your operations more efficient.

Digital Supply Chain

Having a digital supply chain means every process, communication, and connection is working the best it can. Digitizing the supply chain helps you make useful predictions, connect and relate sources of data, generate plans through visibility, improve collaboration, and more!

Collaboration and Communication in the Cloud

Cloud-based technology solutions allow employees to record and share valuable information amongst themselves. As a result, cloud systems improve collaboration with suppliers, condense administrative functions, reduce the cost of goods, and increase profitability. At a fraction of the cost, cloud systems provide smaller organizations with capabilities of larger enterprises to improve workflow and add value to operations.

Transparency

Transparency across all aspects of the supply chain will work wonders in optimizing your operations. Not only does it work well for you, but real-time information also benefits customers. Today’s customers want to know where their order is, every step of the way, so making tracking visible is just one way you can meet demand and boost revenue. You should also make sure your inventory levels are accurately displayed online, so customers don’t end up waiting for back orders. In terms of deliveries, you would benefit from having better tracking on your trucks, such as onboard, real time, GPS-enabled tracking devices.

Right Procurement Tools

More than ever before, the choices companies make today around their procurement systems show just how efficient, quick, and profitable it is. The right procurement tools, or electronic data interchange solutions, can help managers enhance collaboration, streamline operations, efficiently manage cash flow with real-time view, and maintain profits by viewing historical trends and current data.

Outsource Your Order Fulfillment Process to a 3PL Provider Like Lean Supply Solutions

Implementing all these tools on your own can be costly and time-consuming. With spring in full swing, you may be too busy focusing on your sales and marketing efforts to start adjusting your background operations. This is where a 3PL provider can help. These companies will manage your operations, so you can focus on making your business and brand more accessible to your online shoppers. They can manage all the roles above, so you save time and money and speed up your success and revenue.

If you’re looking for the right company to partner with, Lean Supply Solutions is the answer. We rise to the challenge of meeting our clients’ needs through our services which include product fulfillment, warehousing and distribution, e-commerce fulfillment, warehouse pick and pack, and order fulfillment. Lean Supply Solutions can offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about outsourcing to our 3PL distribution team, or to ask any questions, contact us today.

If you have an online store, you may be faced with the challenge of keeping customers coming back, especially since the holidays are long behind us. And unless you’re up to speed with Amazon, you may need some tips on how to enhance your e-commerce fulfillment services in Toronto. There are many tips that can help you update your processes to meet customer expectations, save money, boost productivity and efficiency in the warehouse, and improve communications with your shipper and suppliers. The following tips will get you started towards growing your business and gaining more customers.

Seamless Integration with the Supplier

In most cases, products sold online are sourced from distributors, drop ship suppliers, and sometimes the brand itself. In each scenario, a seamless connection between your order management system (OMS) and your suppliers is crucial. There are programs and software designed to make this communication seamless, so investing in the programs or working with an outsourced order fulfillment services company will make this possible.

Higher Order Visibility and Tracking Process

Can you, your suppliers, and your customers see the items available through your online store? Higher visibility across this channel will allow you to provide more products to your customers, plus you will be better able to track inventory as well. End-to-end visibility of your orders, combined with the ability to track them from start to finish, is key to a successful supply chain. This gives you more control over your inventory and lets you assist orders that get stuck anywhere in the system. Higher visibility also lets you know when an item is low in stock so you can contact your suppliers for more.

Exception-Based Order Management

One order management strategy is to tell customers their orders will be delivered late and then try to make up for the bad user experience. A better way to handle a situation like this is to upgrade delayed shipments to faster shipping so you can still meet the original delivery date stated upon the customer’s purchase. This will cost you more to fulfill the order, but you won’t have to risk losing a customer from a bumpy shopping experience. Good business the first time increases the chances of repeat business going ahead. Exception-based order management ensures that your processes go as planned, and when there is a risk of a delayed or misplaced order, you get an alert. With this system on hand, your process will run smoothly and you will be able to handle situations well when there are issues.

Automated Processes

To speed up the order fulfillment process, you should implement the use of automation. This doesn’t have to mean investing in robots to perform manual processes, but it does mean that you can better track what comes in and out of inventory in real time. High-quality scanners make this possible, and software presents users with a dashboard so they can keep track of items. There are also apps that can be downloaded onto tablets and smartphones which also allow for automation.

Intelligent Warehousing Strategies

Since “Amazon Prime” is one of the leading standards of shipping today, online shoppers expect two-day deliveries as a standard feature. Some customers are even prepared to pay extra for next-day or same-day shipments. This may require products to be shipped by air, or from a warehouse that is located closer to the shopper’s location. Unless your business is large enough to have multiple warehouse locations, a third-party logistics partner (3PL) provider may be your next best option to meet customer expectations. This way, you can achieve the same results at a fraction of the cost.

Choosing the Right Shipper

With your back-end processes running smoothly, you can become very successful with your online venture. However, if your shipper is not up to speed, it won’t matter how good the relationship is that you have with your supplier. If your deliveries are sent out on time, but because of the shipper arrive late or are delayed, lost, forgotten, or damaged, you need to make some changes. Choosing a shipping service that continuously meets your standards is equally as important as your visibility and communication with your suppliers.

Keep Customers Informed

In e-commerce, the order fulfillment process begins when the customer completes a transaction. Every step of your process, from supplier coordination to dispatching and delivery, occurs while the customer waits at the other end. Keeping your customers informed and engaged by sharing details and updates about their order will strengthen and improve your relationship with them. A good order management system will update the customer when their order was received from the supplier, dispatched to their address, where it is along the route, and when it arrives to their doorstep. You can update your customer with e-mail notifications, which will keep them satisfied and encourage repeat business.

Smooth Return Policy

Even though your customer has received their order, you may still have work to do if there is something wrong with it. Many times, this results in returns, which can end up as refunds instead of replacements. About 30% of e-commerce orders turn into returns, whereas brick-and-mortar stores have only a return rate of nine percent. If you have an efficient process in place that makes refunds simple and easy, you may win your customers back and end up with repeat business. What does this look like? The term used for these situations is “reverse logistics,” and if you work with a 3PL provider, you will benefit from this service. You should also collaborate with suppliers who accept returns, refunds, and replacements. If you want to pave the way for repeat purchases from customers, provide a minimum 30-day return window, free return shipping, and zero restocking fees.

Thorough Staff Training

Ensuring that your staff is fully trained is crucial to a smooth product fulfillment process. Staff should be aware of as much as possible in terms of what they will encounter in their work, and what your expectations are for them. Training new employees is valuable, as are refresher training sessions for when new technology or processes are brought in.

Outsource Your Order Fulfillment Process with 3PL Provider Lean Supply Solutions

As mentioned, a 3PL provider can help you manage your operations so you can focus on making your business and brand more accessible to your online shoppers. They can help you with most of the jobs mentioned above so you save time and money and speed up your success and revenue. If you’re looking for the right company to partner with, Lean Supply Solutions is the answer. We arise to the challenge of meeting our clients’ needs through our services, which include product fulfillment, warehousing and distribution, e-commerce fulfillment, warehouse pick and pack, and order fulfillment. Lean Supply Solutions can offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about outsourcing to our 3PL distribution team, or to ask any questions, contact us at 416-748-8982.

Also Read: What Is Order Cycle Time and How Can You Improve It?

Artificial intelligence (AI) in supply chain management has been highly beneficial to many businesses. Over the past few years alone there have been considerable advancements in the field, and many people believe it is the next step in the digital revolution with its potential for total automation and error-free processes. Some believe AI should always be regulated to ensure there are no security or safety risks. Whether companies are feeling positive about AI or not, it is creeping into industrial processes through technology and the devices we use. Manufacturing sectors are noticing this change and have begun making investments in AI to improve business and supply chain functions. If you want to know how AI will affect the supply chain, here’s some important information to consider.

Artificial Intelligence in Supply Chain Planning

AI is created by machines that operate similarly to human minds—with free thought. When a machine makes its own decisions based on historical collected data, it can achieve a goal. This process is known as AI. AI can be classified as being part of the fields of robotics, software programming, image recognition, transportation, and much more. It is generally organized into two categories, which are explained below.

• Augmentation: AI that helps humans with daily tasks without having complete control of the output. Some examples of augmentation include virtual assistants, data analysis, and software solutions. Augmentation is generally used to reduce errors that occur due to human bias.
• Automation: AI that works completely on its own in any field without any human intervention. Robots that perform key process steps in manufacturing plants are an example of automation.

Increase in Productivity and Profits

By reducing the cost of processes and saving time on them, AI has made the supply chain more productive and profitable for businesses. Services like Amazon Prime have used AI to streamline processes and manage customer expectations. For example, they send customers automated messages to update them on product tracking. This manages their expectations, which means repeat business, and it simultaneously boosts productivity. AI can handle trivial supply chain tasks without error in a shorter period of time. For example, dealing with invoice exceptions, discrepancies, and errors or responding to supplier inquiries are duties that can take hours and days. Now, AI can handle these manual processes.

Streamlined Process

AI can adapt to changing scenarios and handle the entire supply chain process. Using historical data and trends, AI can streamline every aspect from demand to inventory to supply and meet the needs of the market. With minimal human input, time saved, and reduced errors, AI provides a variety of benefits to manufacturers. Also, since AI has vast memory options available, it can learn from past mistakes and adapt to ensure there are fewer errors going forward.

Self-Learning Systems

Predictive algorithms can allow AI systems to shorten delivery times and improve efficiency. These algorithms predict demand before a request order is placed. Global supply chain managers can use AI systems to detect risks in trade shipping lanes, and tools like shock-detecting sensors can make them aware of potential damage to cargo. Using this data, managers can take corrective action to minimize operational delays. Machine-learning systems may also be able to recognize customer behaviour through common scenarios and trends, allowing for items to be pre-picked and packed before orders are made. This allows for better productivity and efficiency in the supply chain.

AI for Global Supply Chain Management

Planning, optimization, and demand forecasting is a challenge in the global supply chain. AI may be essential to identifying and predicting problems and finding potential solutions. Supply chain managers need to absorb more data than any person can possibly process, and since this is such a difficult feat, many companies do not understand the full depth of their supply chain risks. Being unprepared to respond efficiently or effectively can cause disruptions in the supply chain. This is where AI comes in. These programs can absorb a high volume of data, organize it efficiently, and extract the necessary insights to suggest or make informed decisions. AI can also gather and analyze external data from multiple sources, including newsfeeds, social media, weather reports, and historical data.

Chatbots for Procurement Process

Chatbots provide automation and augmentation, which can streamline the procurement process. These bots can perform daily tasks such as:

• Speaking to suppliers during trivial conversations
• Placing purchasing requests
• Researching and answering internal questions about procurement functionalities
• Receiving, filing, and documenting invoices and payments and placing order requests

Warehouse Management with Machine Learning

AI can use algorithms and data streams to make predictions about various processes in the supply chain. This endless loop of forecasting is also self-improving, which could reshape warehouse management for the better.

Self-Driving and Unmanned Vehicle Technology

AI can be used for the internal, data-crunching aspects of the supply chain, but it can also be used for mechanical processes. Aside from production machinery, AI can also optimize transportation. Automotive and tech companies like Tesla and Google have been testing driverless cars for several years now and have produced impressive results. If this technology can be fully developed, it will drive product transportation and shipments. AI could help improve accuracy, decrease lead times, and reduce transportation and human labour costs.

Get Logistics and Warehouse Robotics Support at LSS

Lean Supply Solutions can help you if you are looking for a third-party logistics company with the latest technology in artificial intelligence. We always strive to stay up to date on the rising trends in e-commerce warehouses. We commit to being aware of our clients’ operational challenges as they arise and helping them get the most out of their processes. Our third-party logistics, packaging, and supply chain management can streamline your processes for better success, and by striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, we can offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about outsourcing to our 3PL distribution team, or to ask any questions, contact us today.

One of the first steps to making sure that your business can continue to grow is to identify and evaluate the possible risks facing your business. Identifying and assessing supply chain risk comes down to looking for the weak links in your supply chain. This may include natural hazards that are prevalent in your region, such as earthquakes, winter weather, or floods; as well as other disruptions that might occur in your area like a major power outage. Supply chain services can help you identify these weak links, and provide you with warehousing value-added services that can eliminate risk. Here is how you can find the weakest link in your company supply chain. (more…)