A common thread to all warehouse operations is the quest to manage expenses. The most critical and the most manageable expense item on your P&L statement is labor, and managing labor efficiently will generate immediate results in your work to manage expenses.
Q: I need a local fulfillment operation in Canada to effectively grow my business there. How would I proceed to develop an external fulfillment operation in Canada?
A: First and foremost, you have to develop a business model for the designated selling area. This is a three- to five-year strategic plan comprised of historical data and a projected forecast. A few pieces to the model are:
September 2007
F. Curtis Barry & Company provides due diligence services to potential investors in the multichannel retail arena to investigate the feasibility of, or provide support for, mergers, acquisitions, and/or investment opportunities. Our perspective is one of operational consultants for multichannel retail businesses—companies that operate some combination of direct-to-customer sales (catalog and e-commerce), retail (brick-and-mortar), and/or wholesale channels.
Q: If you were asked to choose the one operational area in the distribution center that could generate the greatest improvement in performance, which would it be?
The following case study has been prepared by F. Curtis Barry & Company to show how a Christmas post season operational assessment can be used to significantly improve operations.
Can you honestly say that your company is committed to customer satisfaction? Really and truly committed? You know that customer satisfaction is what keeps the orders flowing in, especially in direct-to-customer operations, hassle-free shopping is key to repeat business.
Some things never change. After the Holiday season, there is invariably a movement to determine how costs can be reduced for the upcoming year. Every aspect of the operation should and does come under review. But, not every area of the business is given equal scrutiny. The following information discusses one of those areas that traditionally do not receive the attention they deserve.
Analyze this: In deciding whether to shop direct or retail, 81% of consumers state that “ease of returns” as an important to their decision, according to a survey by Harris Interactive for Newgistics. The numbers are even more telling after a return is made- Harris Interactive found that 95% of customers are likely to shop with an online merchant again if the return process is convenient. What that says to marketers is that even if a customer returns a purchase, the experience can still be a positive one in terms of instilling loyalty.
