E-Commerce Transportation Excellence · E‐Commerce is not just the growth engine for retail. It...
Transcript of E-Commerce Transportation Excellence · E‐Commerce is not just the growth engine for retail. It...
© 2016 ChainLink Research–All Rights Reserved.
Integrating E-Commerce Transportation to Achieve Execution Excellence
By Bill McBeath
September 2016
© 2016 ChainLink Research–All Rights Reserved.
TableofContents
E‐Commerce Grows Up ...................................................................................................................... 1
The Engine of Growth in Retail, Wholesale Distribution, and Manufacturing ......................................... 1
The Demands of Ever‐increasing Diversity and Complexity ..................................................................... 1
Delivery Modes and Choices ................................................................................................................... 1
International Shipments .......................................................................................................................... 2
Shipping to Your Customers’ Customers ................................................................................................. 2
Diversity of Fulfillment Locations ............................................................................................................ 2
Ever‐widening Handling Requirements ................................................................................................... 2
Doing it All Without Losing Your Shirt ...................................................................................................... 3
Building an Integrated Approach ....................................................................................................... 3
Changes to the Distribution Network ....................................................................................................... 3
Carrier Contracting, Certification, and Selection ...................................................................................... 3
Integration of Parcel ................................................................................................................................. 3
Omni‐mode Integration ............................................................................................................................ 4
Zone Skipping and Pool Consolidation .................................................................................................... 4
Pool Distribution ..................................................................................................................................... 5
‘Always On’ Continuous Optimization and Demand Shaping ................................................................... 5
Fulfillment Automation … Not Just for the Big Boys ................................................................................. 5
Examples of Success .......................................................................................................................... 6
Finis—Simplifying and Efficiently Meeting Diverse Customer Demands .................................................. 6
Automating E‐Commerce Fulfillment Processes ..................................................................................... 6
Hestra—Quality Fulfillment for Quality Products ..................................................................................... 7
Eliminating Errors, Creating Efficiencies ................................................................................................. 7
Getting Started on the Journey to Excellence .................................................................................... 9
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E‐CommerceGrowsUp
TheEngineofGrowthinRetail,WholesaleDistribution,andManufacturingLong gone are the days when e‐commerce was just a side project. It is now a main driver of growth across retail,
wholesale, and manufacturing alike. E‐Commerce retail sales in the US grew at nearly 15% last year, about 10 times
the 1.5% growth rate for retail overall.1 As a result, e‐commerce accounted for the majority (over 60%) of overall
US retail sales growth last year. E‐Commerce now accounts for over 10% of all US retail sales2 and that number will
only continue to rise.
E‐Commerce is not just the growth engine for retail. It has become the key competitive battleground for wholesale
distribution and manufacturing as well. B2B e‐commerce sales this year will exceed $750B in the US alone, more
than twice the size of US retail e‐commerce sales. Nearly three quarters of midmarket B2B firms make at least 25%
of their revenue via online orders. Over a quarter of them derive more than half their revenue from those
e‐commerce sales. As with retail, the trend is only upwards.
With this rapid growth in e‐commerce, many of the systems and processes that retailers, manufacturers, and
wholesalers got by with in the past are now reaching or have reached the breaking point. Old approaches need to
be overhauled to handle higher volumes, increasing complexity, and additional modes of fulfillment and
transportation. TMS3 systems traditionally focus on a core set of processes: planning & optimization, contract
management, tendering, track and trace, and audit/settlement. To fully take advantage of e‐commerce growth
opportunities, companies need expanded TMS capabilities to include parcel, home delivery, and integration across
modes.
TheDemandsofEver‐increasingDiversityandComplexityThe growing role of e‐commerce drives increasing complexity and diversity in logistics and transportation along
many dimensions, including delivery modes, international shipments, shipping to the customer’s customer,
diversity of fulfillment locations, and handling requirements.
DeliveryModesandChoicesE‐Commerce orders often include a mix of B2B and B2C orders in all different sizes, shapes, and delivery modes and
speeds. Increasingly customers are given a variety of choices, with the push for ever faster delivery. Amazon is
already touting Prime Air, using drones to deliver within 30 minutes. UberRUSH and competitors provide
crowdsourced rapid/real‐time courier delivery for documents, items, and packages.4 These ultra‐fast modes exist
alongside traditional parcel (ground and air), common carrier, private fleet, and increasing customer choice about
delivery location—store vs. home delivery vs. lockers—including deliveries to the trunk of your car.5
1 E‐Commerce sales have grown near or above 15% for the past six years in a row. 2 Excluding automobiles and gasoline. 3 Transportation Management System 4 Uber is also launching self‐driving car services which could be used for package delivery as well. 5 Amazon and Audi ran tests of delivering packages to car trunks last year. Cardrops provides a drop‐off service that can be retrofitted into existing cars. Volvo is introducing car delivery service partnering with a Swedish startup. Filld delivers gas directly to your car, wherever it is.
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InternationalShipmentsOne of the great things about e‐commerce is that it gives companies the ability to reach customers internationally,
wherever they are. But with that expanded reach comes all of the challenges and requirements of cross‐border
shipping, introducing many more parties into the process, complex documentation requirements, electronic filings
and declarations, customs clearance, and increasing possibilities for delays, not to mention the challenges of
managing shipment costs.
ShippingtoYourCustomers’CustomersFollowing Amazon’s lead, both brick and mortar and online retailers are increasingly choosing not to stock all items
themselves and are instead asking their suppliers to directly fulfill some of their end customers’ orders, especially
for larger items and/or less frequently purchased or customized items. This places an additional inventory burden
on the manufacturer (a whole other story). Beyond that, the manufacturer, who has spent years honing their
outbound logistics processes for large bulk shipments to retailer’s distribution centers, now finds themselves
having to handle all of these one‐off orders to their retailer’s customers, with the new burden of stringent, retailer‐
specific compliance requirements such as retailer‐specific packaging, labeling, and carrier selection.
In many cases, manufacturers and wholesalers are not waiting to be pulled into the world of e‐commerce by their
retailer customers, but have already seized the opportunity to increase sales,6 using e‐commerce to sell directly to
the end consumer or business customer. Some brands (for example Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sony, Apple, and
many others) also operate their own network of retail stores, thereby facing all of the logistical complexities and
challenges inherent in a multi‐channel distribution network.
DiversityofFulfillmentLocationsFrom the retailer’s or multi‐channel brand’s perspective, they now have many more options of where to fulfill any
given e‐commerce order from—including their own stores (where pick, pack, ship operations are becoming
increasingly common), their own DC, from 3rd party fulfillment partners, from their suppliers’ inventory, in some
cases from their dealer network, and more. Retailers and manufacturers are working hard to optimize these
fulfillment sourcing decisions, with the goal of meeting customers’ needs at the lowest cost. Understanding the
different transportation costs and which of the different transportation options meets the customer’s
requirements is a key piece of the overall fulfillment optimization puzzle.
Ever‐wideningHandlingRequirementsA single retailer or wholesaler often deals with an extreme variety of handling requirements for different products
in different circumstances. Take for example a home improvement or DIY7 retailer that sells to consumers and
contractors. In some cases, they are delivering large orders of building materials directly to a construction site.
Those deliveries might include cement, lumber, windows, and AC equipment. The same retailer may need to
provide white glove installation service for the appliances they sell to consumers. Some products are temperature
sensitive or extremely fragile, or hazardous materials with highly specialized equipment and handling
requirements. E‐Commerce has made it possible to broadened the range of types of goods being sold by each
retailer or wholesaler and thereby the range of types of handling requirements.
6 Manufacturers and wholesale distributors may also use e‐commerce as a way to sell excess or near end‐of‐life inventory, reach new markets (e.g. international), provide value‐add services, and sell customized products, among other things. 7 Do‐it‐yourself.
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DoingitAllWithoutLosingYourShirtAmazon and others are pushing the boundaries of competition along all these dimensions of service and delivery.
It is not enough to add these delivery capabilities to your arsenal. As e‐commerce volumes continue to rise and
constitute an ever‐larger portion of the business, it becomes increasingly critical to address these extremely diverse
requirements and challenges in ways that are highly efficient, cost‐optimized, and competitive.
Unfortunately, many companies are still stuck with the ecommerce infrastructure that they threw together in the
early days—the processes, technology, logistics, and facilities they created as a result of ‘we got to do something
fast’ knee‐jerk reactions to growing online competition. This has resulted in separate, unintegrated e‐commerce
inventory, processes, logistics, and systems that often have reached the limits of their scalability and flexibility.
BuildinganIntegratedApproachAs e‐commerce matures, it requires a modern integrated approach that includes the network, carrier selection,
integration of parcel, ‘omni‐mode integration’ (more on that below), continuous optimization, and fulfillment
automation.
ChangestotheDistributionNetworkRising e‐commerce volumes have implications for optimal distribution network design. This could include decisions
such as locating e‐commerce DCs near major parcel carriers’ hubs, using a third party for fulfillment or conversely
bringing fulfillment back in‐house, gauging the trade‐offs of using a separate e‐commerce DC vs. an integrated DC
that serves both e‐commerce and bulk shipment needs, and other considerations. Traditional network planning and
optimization tools and approaches may need to be expanded to incorporate some of the newer integrated logistics
approaches that have become possible, such as those described below, because these can materially change the
transportation cost equations.
CarrierContracting,Certification,andSelectionThe mix of carriers and contracts that worked well in a traditional business are often not the same mix that is best
once a major portion of the business comes via e‐commerce. It is more than just increasing parcel carriers’ share of
the business. Things like the ability to provide more rapid and guaranteed delivery; more precise, timely, granular
tracking of shipments; integration of multiple legs; and the ability to support more varied handling requirements
can become more important as e‐commerce volumes rise as a percent of the business. Contracts need to be
updated to reflect these new requirements. Carriers and 3PLs that can better support some of the integrated
approaches described here may be given preference. This can result in a change in the mix of carriers and service
providers being used by the firm.
The underlying transportation management systems being used should support this broader mix of carriers,
including parcel, and regional/specialty carriers. The latter could be an important part of the mix as they may
provide better performance and/or lower cost for e‐commerce and other shipments within a specific region or
country or with specific handling requirements or where value‐added services are required.
IntegrationofParcelE‐Commerce drives the need for better integration of parcel into transportation systems and processes. Carrier
setup should include not just TL (Truckload) and LTL (Less‐than‐Truckload), but also parcel. The rating engine should
include parcel rating, and allow rating up front at order entry time. The optimization engine should incorporate
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parcel, to determine whether end‐to‐end parcel or zone skipping or some other mode is the most economical. The
TMS system should have parcel natively integrated, rather than relying on a separate system for parcel, which is
often poorly or not at all integrated. A networked platform for transportation management can provide additional
capabilities for managing parcel shipments. For example, a retailer could provide a portal on the network that their
suppliers can use to manage e‐commerce drop shipments.
In this way, the supplier is responsible for the drop shipment,
but the retailer retains control and leverages higher volumes
with their parcel carriers to realize cost savings.
Omni‐modeIntegrationCompanies are starting to implement ‘omni‐mode integration’
to make smarter delivery mode selection decisions regarding
the use of private/dedicated fleets and common carriers. This
same concept can be extended to e‐commerce shipments.
Fleet vs. for hire decisions have traditionally relied on static,
simplistic formulas (such as “shipments within 75 miles of our
DC will be delivered with our fleet, and all others will be delivered by common carrier”). However, some firms have
been able to implement more intelligent, dynamic algorithms, that look at individual shipments already scheduled
and optimize new shipment decisions with that knowledge. For example, a shipment just outside the standard
private fleet radius could be combined with a nearby already planned shipment that is going via private fleet. These
decisions can be made using a system that does ‘omni‐mode integration’,8 using combined granular, near real‐time
information from both the private fleet route planning and dispatch systems along with information from the TMS
system.
The omni‐mode integration concept can be extended to include parcel shipments as well as time‐critical shipments,
special handling requirements, and inbound/outbound integration. Thus, shipping mode decisions for e‐commerce
orders can be integrated into this broader omni‐mode integration approach. Instead of blindly shipping all
e‐commerce orders via parcel, a portion of those shipments can now be combined with other existing shipments to
take advantage of much lower cost modes (LTL, TL, and private fleet), whenever they are available, while still
meeting delivery requirements.
ZoneSkippingandPoolConsolidationTo achieve lower transportation costs for e‐commerce (and other) shipments, omni‐mode integration can include
zone skipping, pool consolidation, and pool distribution. These methods provide different options in consolidating
smaller shipments into larger more cost effective shipments for either the “first mile,” “last mile,” or a combination
of the two. Zone skipping can cut costs, without significantly compromising time in transit. If a shipper has a larger
volume of shipments going to a concentrated area, by palletizing the shipments, and sending them to a parcel
provider’s hub closer to the destination, the shipper can save on costs for the first leg. FedEx and UPS are
themselves using similar strategies in their SmartPost and SurePost services, where they are injecting the parcels
into the USPS network for last mile residential deliveries.
8 For more on this, see Unifying the Private Fleet with Purchased Transportation.
Figure 1 ‐ Integrated Approach to E‐Commerce Transportation
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PoolDistributionFor retailers who have multiple stores within the same geographic region that they are using for local fulfillment
and/or shipping or collection points for customers, pool distribution provide a quick and cost effective way get
goods to those locations. Pool distribution leverages the economy of scale of pool operators across North America
that are working for numerous retailers and a standardized process for detailed product tracking and distribution
management through the network. Pool distribution can provide delivery times as fast as parcel, but at the cost of
LTL shipments.
‘AlwaysOn’ContinuousOptimizationandDemandShapingFoundational to some of these more advanced approaches is the concept of continuous optimization. The
traditional approach to fleet optimization is to wait until the night before shipments are to be made, then stop
accepting any more orders so you can optimize routes for the next day. Some shippers are instead continually
optimizing the route planning and other decisions.9 This enables earlier and continuous visibility into plans, more
scalability and power in optimization (time is now on your side because algorithms can run for a much longer
period of time), and the ability to extend the order acceptance window until the ‘last minute,’ since the
incremental optimization effort for one more order is relatively minor. Continuous optimization can also be used in
omni‐mode integration decisions described above.
Once a continuous optimization capability is in place, it enables demand shaping for e‐commerce customers’
delivery decisions. When a customer is in the process of placing a new e‐commerce order, the system can look at all
the existing mode and route decisions it has made for previous orders already placed, as well as for replenishment
and other shipments in the mix. The e‐commerce system can then incent the customer to select the time slots
and/or modes that best take advantage of existing routes and already planned deliveries, for example by providing
a discount for those optimal slots and/or charging more for other slots that are suboptimal within the existing
stream of planned order deliveries. John Lewis has been doing this for a while and has been able to use non‐
monetary incentives by marking certain deliveries options as being more ‘green’ – i.e. environmentally friendly.
This is actually more than greenwashing, because that kind of optimization truly does reduce the carbon footprint
of a delivery. This kind of e‐commerce shipment demand shaping is only possible with continuous optimization.
FulfillmentAutomation…NotJustfortheBigBoysLarge e‐commerce fulfillment operations are highly automated, in some cases even leveraging robotics to assist in
the picking process. Small and medium business often still rely on manual, paper‐based approaches, which
unfortunately are prone to error and are highly inefficient. However, there are cloud‐based, low‐implementation
effort technologies available now that bring core e‐commerce fulfillment automation within reach of even small
businesses. This includes things like scan‐based picking and packing, automation of compliant labeling, electronic
tendering, and generation of ASN. These can make a huge difference in the accuracy, compliance,10 and efficiency
of e‐commerce fulfillment operations for small and medium businesses.
9 For a more in depth description, see Always On: Peak Performance for Nonstop Businesses 10 Manufacturers and wholesalers that ship on behalf of retailers are often held to strict standards of compliance to the retailer’s specific requirements for packaging, labeling, and shipping. Non‐compliance can lead to substantial penalties or even loss of business.
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ExamplesofSuccess
Finis—SimplifyingandEfficientlyMeetingDiverseCustomerDemandsFinis is a designer and manufacturer of innovative, high quality, swimming equipment and swimwear. Their stated
mission is to “simplify swimming through technical innovation, high quality products, and a commitment to
education.” As part of that mission, they have been simplifying customer and partner interactions, including the
entire e‐commerce experience, for both B2C and B2B customers—from ordering products through to delivery. This
requires flexible e‐commerce systems and processes that can accommodate the wide variety of needs and sizes of
customers they serve: from consumers ordering
individual items online for home delivery, to
small ‘mom and pop’ specialty sporting goods
retailers who receive both parcels and LTL
shipments, up through major distributors and big
box retailers with high volume TL shipments—
each with their own ordering patterns, ways of
buying, and differing logistics needs and
expectations.
One example is developing packaging that works for all of those channels—big box stores with their unique chain‐
specific packaging requirements; specialty retailers who need to hang the product on pegs; consumers who want to
see the actual product via a transparent window in the package; Finis’s own need to strongly convey their brand on
the package; and various other requirements. The transition to DIM weight11 a few years ago forced Finis to
reexamine their packaging, since their products are bulky12 and light. They worked on reducing master pack and
inner pack sizes, as well as introducing reusable packaging,13 all to reduce DIM weight while still meeting other
requirements.
AutomatingE‐CommerceFulfillmentProcessesA major enabler of e‐commerce flexibility was Finis’s adoption of OzLINK.14 This allowed them to easily create and
maintain tailored15 automated processes. Prior to implementing OzLINK, they were doing most steps manually—
logging into each of their 30+ major customers’ sites to manually pull orders, acknowledge them, hand print the
labels, copy and paste each label number into NetSuite, manually create the ASN, and type in all the details like
tracking information, routing, and other data. All of this had to be done before midnight to avoid chargebacks,
which also created many late nights for employees.
11 In 2007, DHL, FedEx, United Parcel Service and USPS moved to dimensional weight (DIM weight) systems for pricing of their ground services. 12 As Finis describe it to us, “Swimmers can’t wear bricks. We need to have some flotation in our products.” 13 For example, their Mermaid Fin is packaged in a reusable backpack that a young girl can wear to carry the fin and her goggles in. This reduced the packaging by 30%, while providing added value to the consumer. 14 Finis implemented OzLINK integrated with their NetSuite and SPS Commerce systems. 15 For example, Finis added a ‘repeat box’ function to OzLINK to make it much more efficient to fill repeating orders that included the same box over and over in them.
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With their current system, this is all done in one place. OzLINK automates the pick process, using barcode scans at
each step to ensure correct shipping, with the right label, routed/shipped using the proper mode and carrier. Labels
are automatically printed, ASN automatically sent (via SPS), and pickup scheduled. By automating the entire
process, they reduced the average order‐to‐ship time from over 48 hours to less than 24 hours. Elapsed time for
Amazon compliance orders was cut in half from a week (five business days) down to two and half business days.
Finis also reduced the average number of touchpoints per order from more than seven to less than three. Fewer
touchpoints, together with less data entry and scanned verification of each step all served to reduce error16 rates
from 5%‐7% down to less than 1%.
The systems also provided major efficiency gains. Over the past four years, Finis’s shipment volumes have nearly
doubled, from 1200‐1500 orders per month to 2200‐2400 orders (where a single order may have dozens to over a
hundred boxes). They accomplished this growth without adding any headcount to e‐commerce operational
teams—customer service, accounting, and warehouse. Using their old methods, Finis estimates they would have
had to hire at least three additional FTEs. The OzLINK implementation took only two people at Finis working part
time on the project for four months from the start of the project, through customization, testing, and successful
launch. The ROI has been clear and compelling.
Hestra—QualityFulfillmentforQualityProductsFounded in 1936, Hestra is a Swedish manufacturer of very high quality sports and dress
gloves, including bespoke and hand cut gloves. With three factories globally, they are
vertically integrated, sourcing all their own leather, doing their own design,
manufacturing, and delivery. Hestra gloves are distributed in 28 countries, online and
through over 5,500 retail outlets globally (including 1,000 in the US). In 2004, they set
up a US distribution subsidiary.
Hestra carries over 8,000 SKUs, shipping over two million gloves per year in different sizes and colors. These
volumes and variety makes it very challenging for warehouse workers to reliably pick order after order, again and
again, without any mistakes using manual methods. Being a very high quality brand, it is essential for Hestra that
they provide exceptional customer service, including near zero tolerance for shipping errors. In addition, Hestra
serves a diverse set of customers with wide range of logistics requirements, from individual consumers, to specialty
shops, to big box retailers. In order to meet those wide variety of needs, while achieving a high level of accuracy
and efficiency, in 2010 Hestra moved onto NetSuite for ERP, integrated with OzLINK for bin management and pick,
pack, ship in their distribution centers.
EliminatingErrors,CreatingEfficienciesBefore that, Hestra’s warehouse workers used paper pick tickets and manually searched the aisles for the right bin,
style, and size. This was not only inefficient, but created errors, especially during peak season with the surge of
temporary help. With the new system, workers scan the barcodes on the pick slips and the system directs them to
the right bins in an efficient picking sequence that minimizes walking time. They scan the barcode on each product
as they pick and scan again as they pack. If they scan the wrong item at either the pick or pack step, the system
16 The error rate Includes all errors, such as picking or packing wrong item, sending via the wrong shipping method, incorrect labeling, and documentation errors. All these add cost and reduce customer satisfaction.
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beeps and won’t let them proceed, making it nearly impossible to pull the wrong SKU. Mislabeled items are also
identified and corrected. For parcel shipments, the order is automatically populated into the UPS system,17
scheduled for delivery, and the correct label printed.
Hestra’s president, Dino Dardano said OzLINK “allows us to achieve an exceptionally high level of order accuracy
and speed.” Order accuracy increased from 85%‐90% using the old manual approach to 99%+ with the new system,
saving Hestra return and reshipment freight costs, reducing unproductive inventory, and most importantly
improving customer satisfaction.
Hestra also appreciated the ease of tailoring
OzLINK and NetSuite. This came in handy when
they switched from using a third party to fulfill
e‐commerce to doing their own direct to
consumer shipments. In December 2015, they
launched a new website and started shipping
directly to consumers themselves. It took just
six weeks to customize, test, and roll out the
new processes in their warehouse. This was
right in the middle of their busy season and
the rollout went without a hitch.
Direct to consumer e‐commerce shipments
represent about 10% of Hestra’s business.
They do additional e‐commerce business
through partners like Amazon,
backcountry.com, and other big e‐commerce
sports retailers. In addition, they sell through
brick and mortar retail stores of various sizes,
from ‘mom and pop’ to big box. This mix of customers and channels results in a large variety of requirements for
pick, pack, and ship. Many of their larger retail customers require LTL shipments, with their own routing guides and
carriers, as well as EDI ASNs and GS1‐compliant labeling. Even though they are a small business, Hestra is able to
efficiently and accurately accommodate this complex mix of requirements, all using the same integrated system,
due to the pre‐built integrations and ease of customization. Dardano said, “I think OzLINK is fantastic for a small to
medium business. It is very scalable. We were up and running with little to no down time. Without this software we
couldn’t run our business nearly as efficiently as we do.”
17 Using pre‐built integrations between OzLINK and UPS WorldShip.
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GettingStartedontheJourneytoExcellenceE‐commerce has become an absolutely crucial element (representing the majority of revenue for more and more
businesses) for retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers alike. However, many businesses have yet to upgrade
processes and systems that were developed in the early days of e‐commerce, in some cases over a decade ago,
when the phenomenon was still in its infancy. With competition intensifying on all fronts, this lack of investment is
a formula for failure. What a shame it is if a company has a stellar product and highly respected brand, but fails,
simply due to poor execution in their e‐commerce shipment execution. The good news is that there are many new
approaches, with high ROI, that can help a business become much more competitive in their e‐commerce logistics
capabilities. Here are some ways to improve e‐commerce transportation execution:
Integrate parcel—Parcel shipments should be integrated into overall transportation management processes
and systems. If possible, incorporate a TMS with native parcel built in.
Implement Omni‐mode Integration—Acquire the ability to make optimized mode decisions for
e‐commerce shipments, that includes not just parcel, but all options including LTL, TL, private fleet, zone
skipping, pooled distribution, and other options.
Do Continuous Optimization—Implement capabilities to continuously optimize transportation plans (fleet,
for hire, and parcel). Use this to do demand shaping—at the point an e‐commerce customer is placing an
order, steer/incent them to optimal delivery options (e.g. time slots and/or locations) that are the lowest
cost and most efficient for you.
Automate fulfillment and shipping processes—Replace manual, paper‐based systems for pick, pack, and ship
with automated approaches that verify correct execution and automate steps like booking a shipment,
printing labels, and sending ASNs. Automation is now within the reach of smaller business and is a key
enabler of growth and customer satisfaction.
Connect to a Networked Platform—a platform that connects your complete network of parcel and other
carriers, 3PLs, and trading partners provides a foundation for a more integrated approach.
Go International—E‐Commerce can be a relatively low‐cost way to reach new international markets,
compared with establishing a physical presence. It requires a system that provides export compliance and
strong support for international parcel.
Organizational Integration—If you have separate legacy e‐commerce inventory, processes, personnel,
logistics, and systems, look for opportunities to integrate them into the rest of the business, such as shared
inventory pools, collocating personnel, integrated systems, shared success metrics, and common
organizational structure.
Your e‐commerce customer’s experience is not just about the buying process. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or
easy your website is to use if you stumble in the delivery phase. If e‐commerce has grown to become a major factor
in your business, your old systems may not be up to the task for current e‐commerce volumes and complex
requirements. If so, now is the time to invest in capabilities to achieve e‐commerce fulfillment and transportation
excellence, to ensure happy customers and enable continued healthy growth for your business.
Integrating E‐Commerce Transportation to Achieve Execution Excellence
© 2016 ChainLink Research–All Rights Reserved.
About ChainLink Research
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