Holiday report card for omnichannel retailers
Retailers are mostly meeting the needs of today’s omnichannel customer, but there’s still room for improvement, according to a new study.
The 2015 Omnichannel Fulfillment Special Report by Kurt Salmon analyzed retailers’ peak-season fulfillment plans and realities to uncover successes, challenges and opportunities for this year.
Kurt Salmon surveyed over 100 retailers about their peak-season shipping and fulfillment plans. The survey revealed three key objectives for the holidays: 1. Increase Speed: Retailers aimed to cut peakseason fulfillment times by almost two days. 2. Keep More Promises: Following last-minute delivery challenges in 2013, retailers wanted to improve their success rate. 3. Beat the Competition: Wary of a competitive and crowded market, many retailers were eager to keep up with the Joneses and save the sale by offering more fulfillment options and free shipping. And they put their money where their mouths were.
When asked about their investment priorities to improve peak-season delivery, retailers said that their top focus was on shipping (25%) and technology/ information (24%). On the technology side, retailers noted that they were investing in inventory and shipping management systems, distribution software and improved forecasting systems.
How did they do?
Satisfactory: Cyber Monday, Last-Minute Orders and Returns.
Based on an analysis of shipping times for orders placed on Cyber Monday from 58 retailers, 10 retailers earned spots on “Santa’s Good List,” speedily delivering multi-unit orders in an average of 2.7 business days, more than twice as fast as the average Cyber Monday fulfillment time of 6.5 business days. But there were a few bumps along the way. Sixteen percent of retailers had website issues during check-out, and 15% of retailers identified out-of-stock items only at checkout. Another 17% cancelled an item (or items) after the order had been placed. Overall, 26% of retailers were unable to complete the total multi-item order within two weeks of Cyber Monday.
Satisfactory: Last-Minute Orders.
Kurt Salmon’s analysis found that retailers made progress but still have room for improvement. In 2014, 13% of last-minute orders did not reach consumers in time for Christmas, an improvement from 2013, but not as much as retailers hoped. The more retailers tried to push the limits with last-minute orders, the less successful they were.
Needs Improvement: Returns.
From the consumer’s perspective, retailers are not quite “acing” the returns process. The convenience and speed of returns are increasingly important to online shoppers, but there is a gap between expectations and reality. While consumers think that a refund should be processed in about seven days, and younger customers expect even shorter time frames, it actually took an average of 16.8 days to credit a return during peak season.
To read the full Kurt Salmon report, click here.