How can retailers offer a 5-star customer experience?

Using technology in warehouses is the prime way to define inventory optimisation. A company’s reasons for improving and holding inventory, ironing out the supply chain and reducing returns are to deliver to its customers what they want, where they want it, and via the platform they choose to purchase it on. Ultimately, a positive and remarkably satisfying customer experience is largely dependent on successful inventory control. However, the problem lies in evolving customer expectations, which seemed to take an altogether U-turn ever since the pandemic occurred. Retailers ought to realise that it isn’t a trend. It is the new reality that is affecting the very core of the future of supply chain operations. And we’ve got to find a solution that works.

4 ways to improve & optimise through technology

Businesses spend magnificently on customer experience because according to a survey, 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better experience. Jeopardising inventory management, therefore, can impact the bottom line of customer experience altogether, leaving your customers annoyed.

• Technology improves order fulfilment accuracy: Failure to see what’s in the inventory and shipping of an inferior graded product without checking in real-time causes poor fulfilment accuracy and a bad customer experience. Tech solutions that streamline integration and manage pre-season, as well as in-season systems, allow retailers to monitor what’s available, in what quality and at what location for ensuring optimal stock delivery.
• Technology prevents stock-outs: The second biggest way in which technology helps build optimal customer experience via stock management is by erasing stock-outs. If there’s anything detrimental to the sustainability of your business, it is a stocked-out item that is made known to the buyer only once he/she places the order. For instance, with RFID retailers can automate and improve accuracy by 30% and reduce out-of-stock situations by 50%.
• Technology supports effective lead-time management: A unique selling point of many top brands is the quickest delivery time. The handling and processing of orders play a critical role in how happy your customer gets – the faster the order is delivered, the better the experience. A streamlined inventory management system can keep retailers abreast of the location of their items, such that the time taken to find, sort, pack and ship is drastically reduced.
• Technology makes handling easier: The unbearable cost of returns is a critical challenge to overcome, compounded by devastating insights and stats into bad customer experience and handling of returns. The key is to arrange an instant swap until the product is still under warranty or send a new product in exchange for the returned item. This calls for a proper inventory management system that is strong and streamlined to ensure proper return handling and regaining of customers’ trust

By Stéphane Pignard, General Manager, Altavant

Read the full article in the November edition of RetailME.