Integrated Fulfillment: The Direct/Retail Balancing Act

Many e-commerce sites will not take orders if the fulfillment center is out of stock or on back order. This gives customers the erroneous impression that the item isn’t available, even though it may be stocked in stores. And even if it is available, it may not be in a store nearby.

If your primary marketing channel is retail, you don’t want inventory riding around on trucks between stores or back to the fulfillment center to fill direct orders. At the same time, if you’re a store manager, you don’t want direct orders to strip your inventory of best-selling items if you don’t get credit for the sales. All channels — retail, web, catalog and wholesale — compete for best-sellers.