The Future of Catalog Fulfillment & Operations

1. E-commerce has, and will continue to have, the biggest impact on fulfillment since the introduction of the toll-free phone number.

The introduction of round-the-clock, toll-free calling almost 30 years ago fundamentally changed the operating landscape of fulfillment. The transition from the weekly batch processing of mail orders to the real-time answering of phone calls dramatically accelerated the fulfillment process. Delivery commitments to the customer were cut by more than half, from four to six weeks to less than two weeks.