The holiday sales season is often the most important for retailers. Researchers predict holiday ecommerce retail sales to make up 18.9% of total holiday sales this year, up from the year before. In 2020, retail ecommerce made up 17.5% of total holiday sales.
If retailers do not want to miss out on these sales, they must be in the selling channels where customers are spending their time.
It has never been more important for retailers and brands to be wherever the customer is, on their terms. Linnworks calls this Total Commerce.
Total Commerce means going to the customer rather than having the customer come to you. It means staying current on what channels customers are making their purchasing decisions. It’s difficult to constantly manage and keep up with these multiple sales channels. This is where automation comes in, putting Total Commerce control at the center of your business this holiday season.
The Power of Automating Inventory Management for Peak Season
One of the challenges high-growth retailers face is managing logistics through ever-expanding complex channels. Retailers must manage the orders, inventory, and shipping in multiple selling channels. The risk of human error greatly increases the more selling channels a business has when managing commerce manually.
Automation takes care of the management of these areas. Automation is especially important when you have high order volumes during the holiday season. For example, automation helps to solve one of the biggest problems retailers face: inventory management.
Successful inventory management is key to navigating the high-demand holiday season. Inventory management prevents stock-outs.
Stock-outs occur when retailers oversell their inventory. This can lead to a negative customer experience, lost revenue, and a permanently damaged reputation. Stock-outs are most likely to occur during sales surges, which is a common occurrence during the holiday season. This is where automation can be an invaluable asset to manage the stock levels of your inventory across all selling channels.
Get Your Products to Customers Easier and Faster With Shipping Management Automation
A shipping management system helps retailers decide what fulfillment method to use, and designate carrier services based on filtered criteria such as location or product information.
A system also allows you to manage the delivery experience of all of your orders, including being able to identify any delivery issues well before they happen. When you have this kind of insight, it helps you build long-lasting relationships with your customers by providing a positive delivery experience.
Moreover, a good shipping management system integrates well with third-party logistics companies to provide an immersive overall experience. 3PLs can handle the distribution, warehousing, and fulfillment of products.
3PLs can be extremely valuable to retailers because these companies have multiple fulfillment centers that are close to your customers, therefore decreasing the amount of time it takes to ship your products to your customers. Being closer to customers provides a huge advantage for retailers because it allows retailers to get their products to customers faster. 3PLs also save you money because you do not need to buy or rent warehouse space.
Manage Multiple Sales Channels in One Place with Automation
Automation helps retailers implement a successful sales channels strategy. Marketplaces are one type of sales channel and include well-known names like Walmart, eBay, and Amazon in an ever-growing area.
According to Linnworks, 90% of customers start their search for a product on a marketplace. In a consumer market where the winning retailers are wherever their customers are, wherever may seem like everywhere.
Each new marketplace is a possible selling channel to consider for a retailer. Marketplaces can be great for sales and also for more customers to find out about your brand. Automation helps you sell on all possible channels where your customers are spending their time, like marketplaces.
Accomplishing Total Commerce, being where your customers are, on their terms, is difficult to manage without automation. It has never been more important for retailers to be wherever their customers are, such as marketplaces.
Leverage the Power of Automation for the Holiday Sales Surge
Automation helps with your commerce operations while also helping you create a seamless, convenient customer experience.
Automation can consolidate selling channels, manage inventory across those channels, and coordinate shipping. Automation is the key to connecting your business to customers where they already spend their time, in a way that provides them a seamless experience, so that they will return again and again.
This article is a guest contribution from Linnworks
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