Figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) confirm that online shopping has changed the way that shoppers are using the high street.
In November, the BRC / Springboard Footfall Monitor reported that retail footfall was down by 2.4% compared to the same month last year. The high street suffered the largest fall, where consumer numbers were down by 4%.
Footfall might be down, but retailers and logistics companies are struggling to meet the challenges of unprecedented demand from consumers for online shopping.
Online retail is estimated to reach $1.5 trillion in 2014 according to reports from eMarketer, an increase of nearly 20% over 2013. In the UK alone, 2014 will see 17% growth in online shopping from £91 billion in 2013 to £107 billion in 2014 estimates the IMRG-Capgemini eRetail sales index.
Dick Stead, executive chairman at the courier Yodel, had to report this month that collections were being suspended for a couple of days as they caught up with the back log of deliveries:
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday exceeded all analysts’ expectations and in many cases orders for UK retailers were double the previous record level set last year.”
For retailers, providing a mechanism for customers to shop online obviously provides significant benefit. UK online retail sales are increasing month-on-month, year-on-year as consumers take advantage of the ease and convenience of ecommerce.
Being online increases exposure of retailers beyond the high street as consumers turn to search engines to find products and services, enabling retailers to have a national, if not global presence. As online booms, savvy retailers are also expanding beyond having one ecommerce website into multi-channel. They are launching multiple ecommerce websites to cater to specific niche markets, as well as launching ‘stores’ on eBay, Amazon and other marketplaces.
However, as retailers add more and more channels, so the workload increases and challenges expand.
Every one of these channels will typically have its own back office software systems that retailers need to add their products to; maintain and reconcile the correct inventory stock levels; extract and manage orders from; ensure customers receive their deliveries on time; and get information into their accounting system.
And that doesn’t even take into account the ability to analyse and interrogate the data across multiple channels work out which products and channels are most profitable.
As we have seen with our own customers, without these systems being integrated, a great deal of time can be spent manually re-keying information from one system into another. Not only is this a huge burden on human resources, there are inevitable errors and missed revenue opportunities.
Sound familiar?
To streamline processes and bring control over the channels, retailers need to implement a multichannel order and inventory management system.
Brightpearl, who Proximity recently become a partner, is just such a system that helps retailers manage their business efficiently and effectively – bringing orders, inventory, customer data, accounting and reporting together into a single, integrated solution.
It provides real-time reports on inventory, cash flow, profitability by SKU and channel, customer purchase behaviour and more. Retailers use Brightpearl to:
Process orders more efficiently
Use one central hub to manage orders across all sales channels – fully integrated with STREAM’s delivery and transport management solution to ensure orders get to customers faster.
Stay in control of inventory
Brightpearl automatically updates inventory levels and reorder statuses across all sales channels to reduce stock outs, eliminate double selling and improve cash flow.
Increase purchasing power
Generate purchase orders with a single click and see purchase history, prices and margins for all suppliers in an instant – to make better buying decisions, lower costs and increase profits.
Improve customer service
Everyone in the organisation can access real-time customer information – including order status, history and previous interactions.
This is on top of the collaborative self-service portal through STREAM, which enables customers to enter, view and manage their own orders.
Make faster, better business decisions to improve profits and cash flow
Brightpearl has built in accounting which gives real-time revenue and profit analysis. Brightpearl’s clear, easy-to-access reports shows where retailers they are making money (and where they aren’t) by SKU, channel and customer.
Minimise admin time and reduce errors
Seamless integration – and real-time automatic syncing – across orders, inventory, customer data and accounting eliminates re-entering of information across multiple systems.
Find out more about Brightpearl.