Many retailers can now reopen some stores with others soon to follow in their footsteps. The reality of a new phase of COVID-19 looms overhead. To maintain social distancing restrictions and changing consumer behaviours, limited foot traffic will probably continue to challenge brands even well beyond 2020, and the road to recovery will require different strategies than before. Consider alternative ways to optimize retail distribution performance to ensure future success. By retesting the strategies surrounding things like distribution networks and the technologies used to support them, retailers can emerge much stronger. Distribution channels may not seem like a line of business that requires a lot of development. When there are things like product design and social media engagement to worry about, the channel strategy might seem like the last thing on anyone’s mind. Improving the performance of distribution channels can increase profits and boost your business growth.
Re-imagine distribution network:
To further reduce costs, retailers must be innovative in terms of distribution networks. Also, given the current volatility in-store sales volumes, the current fixed infrastructure is no longer cost-optimized, so retailers should be distribution centres and serving stores at a greater distance. While past store volumes may have required truck deliveries ahead of COVID, package and multi-load transport strategies may be better options today. Retailers can take advantage of economies of scale to keep packages moving at a much lower cost than retailers.
Automate delivery process:
As the world continues to move away, retailers who have yet to implement contactless delivery should now quickly introduce it into their workflows. By automating certain processes such as scanning and tracking each package box, they can foster a stronger chain of custody to help eliminate the need for paper-based delivery methods and minimize human contact. GPS and additional location-based tracking services can also help carriers and service providers make deliveries with no physical contact at the store and can even result in improved delivery data through the retail distribution chain., which reduces inventory and improves responsiveness.
To increase shipment visibility:
Multimodal in-store distribution strategies also require increased visibility of in-store shipments and inventory. This level of information allows retailers to manage and reduce inventory, so stores are properly stocked and sales aren’t missed while preserving valuable cash. This gives store operations more control over the flow of distribution, the ability to plan visual merchandising efforts, and reduce store labour costs. Having a single version of the truth about delivery is critical to managing service and carrier costs, and it is also what enables high growth programs to succeed.
Fully embrace e-commerce:
COVID-19 has further strengthened the place of e-commerce as part of an overall retail distribution strategy. As more consumers shop online, retailers that previously avoided e-commerce retail distribution should re-test and integrate in-store shipping to take advantage of store assets. This will help brands respond quickly to the growing demand for e-commerce. e-commerce execution can improve capacity and responsiveness while reducing in-store inventory and transportation costs.
While the current landscape is a difficult maze for retailers to navigate, the long-term future is still bright for those who adopt today. By reassessing current retail distribution strategies and the technology used to support efforts now, those who make adjustments and pivot quickly will be in a much better position to succeed and come out stronger in months and years to come up.
