Boost your revenue with Ship from Store
The intense competition in the retail industry forces retailers to provide the most satisfying customer experience while protecting their profit margins. The ability to ship customer orders from stores, known as ‘Ship from Store,’ meets both of these needs by boosting online sales. However, implementing this strategy successfully requires adherence to certain key points.
Definition and benefits of Ship from Store
Ship from Store is a process that enables the direct shipment of customer orders from retail stores. This omnichannel solution allows retailers to fulfil a maximum number of purchase intents. To take advantage of this service, retailers must have a real-time view of their entire inventory (unified stock). Consequently, orders placed online or in-store can be processed, prepared, and shipped directly from a store with the necessary stock.
Ship from Store offers several benefits for retailers:
- Drastically reduce stockouts: By expanding your product catalogue beyond the warehouse to include items in stores, the likelihood of running out of stock is significantly diminished.
- Decrease storage costs: Your available storage space is expanded through the store network, eliminating the need to invest in new warehouses.
- Lower shipping costs: By shipping orders from a store closer to the end customer, it becomes possible to reduce carrier costs compared to shipping from a warehouse.
- Optimise staff utilisation: Store teams can handle orders during off-peak hours or in periods of low foot traffic, effectively utilising human resources.
- Streamline warehouse operations: Shipping orders from stores helps alleviate congestion in warehouses and distributes the workload evenly across teams.
From the customer’s perspective, Ship from Store also provides advantages such as:
- Faster delivery: Shorter delivery times are achieved by shipping orders from a store located closer to the end customer.
- Reduced shipping fees: As mentioned earlier, reduced delivery distances lead to lower associated costs for customers.
- Expanded product range: Customers benefit from an enriched e-commerce catalogue, thanks to the availability of store stock. This increases their chances of finding the product they want.
5 steps for successful implementation
The successful implementation of Ship from Store requires careful planning and close collaboration among different stakeholders within the company. Here are the steps to follow for seamless integration:
- Feasibility assessment: Evaluate the feasibility of implementing Ship from Store by examining the existing store network and assessing its capacity to fulfil orders using in-store stock. Also, consider the ability to handle both online and in-store orders simultaneously.
- Establish a real-time stock management system: To ensure the smooth functioning of the solution, implement a real-time stock management system to monitor inventory levels. Retailers can use Order Management Systems like OneStock, for example.
- Train staff: Provide training to store personnel on new processes and technologies related to Ship from Store. They need to learn how to handle online and in-store orders, as well as how to prepare and ship them. Motivate the teams by tying e-commerce orders processed in stores to their sales targets.
- Develop a shipping strategy: Establish an efficient shipping strategy to ensure prompt and reliable order fulfilment. Inform third-party carriers about the new order processing procedures to enhance efficiency.
- Measure results: Utilise key performance indicators such as customer satisfaction rate, order processing time, and total shipping cost to assess the success of the implementation and the effectiveness of Ship from Store.
To learn more about Ship from Store, contact our omnichannel experts today.
