Click and Collect Expands Retail Volume Online and In-Store

by | Feb 26, 2020 | Collaboration, Inventory Management, Retailers

As the continued growth of online purchases, in-store pickup, and ship-to-store strategies widen, the supply chain has driven retailers to become more flexible. Click and Collect is perfectly positioned to offer this kind of flexibility to retailers by delivering the ease of online shopping with the perks of traditional stores.

However, the real power of this hybrid retail order fulfillment model lies in its ability to drive more shoppers into physical brick and mortar stores by expanding a retailer’s customer base with an online presence ­­–– without the addition of warehouse or shipping personnel to fulfill.

Increased foot traffic can often translate into more in-store purchases. Hence, as an order model, Click and Collect presents retailers with ideal opportunities to cross-sell, upsell, and stimulate impulse purchases through quick and easy purchasing options for customers.

Using an ASN to enable a successful click and collect program.

Many retailers do not have a robust, transparent supply chain to support their inventory management processes. Visibility into inventory (in all stages of the supply chain) ensures product availability while maximizing an open-to-buy budget.

Working with vendors to exchange data through the use of an ASN, Advance Shipping Notice can be one way to alleviate the pains of what quantities are in route to your facility –– when the shipment arrives, and where items are located in the shipment for fast receiving –– without opening every box.

This can be helpful when using Click and Collect as it allows your buyers to see current inventory, as well as what is on the way, so they can place orders for items that are genuinely running low in inventory, overall, rather than only what has been received into your system.

Collaborate with your supply chain for better customer experiences.

Having a broad vendor community (but having unreliable product availability) is one of the biggest hurdles that we at SPS Commerce see retailers facing when creating a successful Click and Collect program.

Folding in retail analytics to your existing processes can help you to collaborate with your suppliers using a shared system of common data. When your suppliers know the success of promotion periods, as well as everyday inventory turns, they can collaborate to create future promotions, and ensure readiness for the next order that they will receive.

In this way, you can actively transform your vendors into strategic partners, where all parties are working from the same information, and you can plan together to make sure they are prepared to fill high volume orders as you are both collaborating with the same sales details.

Using retail analytics maximizes your vendor data and your bottom line.

When you and your vendors have access to shared real-time product performance data, it’s easier to join forces, spot opportunities, and quickly implement changes that reduce waste and move more stock. You make more money, and so do your vendors. It’s a win-win. SPS Analytics can help you get there. SPS Analytics software can help connect your vendors to POS data and deliver the data to make their next buyer meeting collaborative.

This can be a powerful tool to enable Click and Collect success as it can uncover out-of-stock inventory and allows collaboration with vendors to ensure these problems are addressed. You’ll gain valuable insights and data (along with best practices reports by our industry experts) that give better visibility to when you need to replenish products.

Ready to learn more? We’re here to help.

Take your Click and Collect program to the next level. Our full-service team can even take on the large project of expanding your product details to give your customers an excellent experience.

SPS works in partnership with your vendors to get the right information loaded and we manage it all on your behalf, allowing you to become the strategic partner your customers are looking for by making proactive recommendations on how to optimize assortments and increase sales.

For more information on how to get started, visit this page, or if you are ready to get started, speak with one of our retail specialists. for a no-obligation free 1-on-1 consultation, visit SPS Commerce.com.

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