Order Fulfillment

Facilitated largely by the Internet, consumers have been ordering gifts later in the holiday season. Indeed, 20 percent of consumers reported they started their online shopping later in 2004 than in 2003, according to the 2004 Shop.org/BizRate.com Online Holiday Mood Study. Shop.org also reported that 46 percent of online retailers offered express shipping promotions the week of Dec. 19, no doubt adding more pressure to their already full holiday workloads. These trends can cause some rather drastic spikes and accompanying problems in any catalog business. During the past several years, we’ve heard horror stories of poorly planned operations resulting in excessive order

When catalog order management systems were first developed in the 1970s, they were designed to manage all aspects of catalog operations: from order entry, customer service and customer database management to response analysis, inventory management, purchasing, fulfillment, and returns. Thirty years later, they still are, which is why so many direct merchants can run their businesses on these applications without a need to add specialized solutions for things like warehouse management. Some companies, however, find their catalog management systems don’t provide the flexibility or sophistication they need to address their inventory or fulfillment challenges. For them, a warehouse management system (WMS) is a necessary

Catalogers possessing high-performing operational units concentrate on the following five fundamentals. 1. Optimum Location Superior merchandise fulfillment begins with facility location, which should provide average or better solutions to the following criteria: - An adequate labor supply of both full-time and seasonal workers, as measured in terms of costs, availability, stability and productivity. Note: This is the single most important location-related criteria. - Proximity of suppliers and customers to the facility, as measured in both inbound and outbound transportation costs and delivery time. - Local economics includes reasonable construction or building rental costs; availability of government incentives; and reasonable taxes (e.g., income, personal

Catalogers often try to reduce associated returns costs with policy initiatives. Since returns are seen as a bottom-line deficit, countless hours are spent defining a policy to minimize returns. Here are four tips for better managing returns:ï3/4ï3/4 ï3/4ï3/4  1. Divide the responsibility for returns between appropriate departments. If returns are due to product quality, your merchandising team must be involved in the solution. If they’re due to presentation issues, the creative team must participate. Slow deliveries? Get your fulfillment and inventory teams involved. Tip: Create a returns team with members from each department to focus on return reduction and management. Fiscal responsibility also should be shared. 2.

Selecting and implementing a new order management system can be a daunting process. After all, this is a mission-critical suite of applications that can make or break your business. There are dozens of potential solutions and never enough time — or so it seems — to attend to all the details. There’s also the issue of technophobia. And sorting out the real from the hype in your technology options is unquestionably a tough challenge, even if you’re trying to keep up with the changes in this fast-paced field. Often the best way to achieve a successful outcome is to learn from the

This article will define RFID technology and offer examples of how it could help improve your distribution center operations. RFID uses radio waves to automatically identify physical items in varying proximity to readers that can uniquely identify them. The identification process entails the following: - the RF antenna broadcasts a signal; - the tag enters the RF field; - the RF signal powers the tag; - the tag transmits data to the reader; and - the reader interacts directly with the supply chain execution system. By now, no doubt, you’ve heard that Wal-Mart is requiring its top 100 suppliers to

Shipping and handling (S&H) complaints usually rank pretty high on the list of gripes customers have against merchants. At the same time, consumers rate parcel delivery companies as some of the best in customer service*. Is there a disconnect in the consumer’s mind, or is there more to this dichotomy than meets the eye? Catalog Success asked Jeff Kline, a veteran of catalog fulfillment, to share his advice on how you can increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of your outbound parcel shipping services — while at the same time maintaining or even improving your customer service objectives. Kline is president of

From the moment you pull into the 40-acre Golfsmith campus in Austin, Texas, you know you’re in a golfers’ mecca. But as it turns out, the company’s on-site driving range and golf academy are just the beginning. Inside the 92,000 square-foot corporate headquarters, there’s a putting green for employees, and a large retail store complete with indoor waterfall and Clubhouse Café. The clubmaking workshop not only crafts custom-made clubs, it also holds weeklong classes for those who want to learn the art. A research and development team is developing clubs and testing vendor-sourced products. Enlarged pictures capturing golf imagery hang over the

Benchmarking often is described as a set of performance standards for a specific task. And best practices entail tried and true procedures that can help improve your catalog business. Although many industry benchmarks and best practices are viewed as standards, in reality most need to be adjusted to meet the requirements, limitations and needs of a particular catalog business. There’s no one model or standard of performance that works for all. For example, the return rate for an apparel mailer may be 25 percent (i.e., the standard), while a food cataloger might see a return rate of 3 percent (the standard for

Problem: Massage Warehouse was receiving delivery fines from shipping companies and returned packages due to incorrect customer address data. Solution: The company implemented QAS’ software to validate addresses using U.S. Postal Service (USPS) data. Results: Delivery surcharges dropped by 63 percent, staff productivity significantly increased, and customer satisfaction grew due to faster delivery times. When both delivery surcharges imposed by shipping companies and the number of returned packages began to rise due to incorrect address formats, Massage Warehouse realized it needed to adjust its customer address data management. For example, the difference between “Strt.” and “St.” as an abbreviation for “Street” was costing the