Over the years, market researchers and scholars have been following market dynamics and the changes therein. Every phase of renaissance brings a slew of market planning along with accepting and realizing the changing pattern of consumerism. Similarly, the pandemic brought several alterations in retailing and in the order fulfillment procedures.

A categorical blow to the retailers came during lockdown, when the earlier notion of keeping the supply chain organizations lean and avoiding excess turnout proved a misnomer, as both shipping and production were derailed and there was a rise in consumer demand. Inspite of that, marketing research scholars would never preach or underline a pattern as future phenomenon, as a trend today is a passé tomorrow!

Why Warehouse Management Software?

Empowered by eCommerce, consumers started enjoying the benefits of both the worlds, that is, online and offline shopping, rather for them there was no line of demarcation between the two. Consumers were looking for comfort in the shopping experience. The new challenge for retailers was to study consumer behavior as online sales started dwindling and old joys of visiting brick-and-mortar stores made a comeback. Consumers were trying to establish a link between the two, they were comparing benefits of offline and online pricing, quality, delivery time, availability and convenience of purchasing the exact product without any compromise. The consequence of this mindset threw retailers off the hook, especially those who were or are not ready with integrated inventory management tools.

WMS is an automated inventory management software that leverages possibility of accessing information on supply chain management in real-time. The availability of data helps in processing and integrating shipping details with other sales analytics for faster fulfillment of an order. It brings a matter of convenience for developing a symbiotic understanding between eCommerce and brick-&-mortar retailing.

Improved Inventory Management

Recently, Abz Eshkenazi, CEO-SCM, Now Impact mentioned in his article, “Now, many digital-first businesses — including Allbirds, Everlane, Glossier, and Warby Parker — have transitioned from online-only storefronts to online plus brick-and-mortar”.

For seamless coordination between online and offline stores as well as warehouses logistics; retailers need information about stocks, transportation and logistics, order mapping, available resources, pricing and costing involved. Inventory management is a complex system but an automated solution can accrue benefits by syncing the data and making it available through a single window.

Retail warehouse management software makes back-end transition swifter for improved inventory management and order fulfillment. The automated system can keep a close check by monitoring demand and preventing any stockouts, build a strong relationship with suppliers for fulfilling an obligation, it provides enough data for inventory optimization by auditing the stocks, and also keeps a track of expiry of inventories stocked in warehouses.

WMS solutions have brought an ease of operation, warehouse management has been simplified and it has become really convenient to manage businesses online and offline as customers want the best of both. Anytime and any type of order fulfillment is no more a challenge, even when a customer has liked a product and it is unavailable in the offline store, it’s availability can be instantly checked online and can be delivered to the customer.

Streamlined Fulfillment Processes

From picking an order to delivering is a strenuous and a complex process, it requires continuous scrutiny at each level. If the system is not automated, then manual tabulation of order received, availability of inventory, auditing of inventory to manage stockouts or over-stocking, packaging details, to control discrepancies in the items, locate nearest warehouse for order management and fulfilment; can burnout a retailer.

Warehouse Management Systems streamline work from picking and packing processes. The software can locate the warehouse nearest to the costumer for faster delivery. The bar code on items allows access to information about the item. Access of information channelizes multi-modal shipping routes by collaborating with logistics partners. It brings down cost as comparing of price till last mile connectivity and delivery is available on a single dashboard.

Benefits of warehouse management software are innumerable. To start with it brings transparency in the transportation and logistics system. The inventory management system starts rolling the moment a customer shows an interest for a product. The automated system routes the customer to nearest store where the item would be available and makes shopping a pleasurable experience. There is continuous update on their smart phones and on emails about the order. Since, the autonomous software can preview the order routes, it shares cost-effective routes with the customer for reduced fulfillment time. The overall syncing of APIs diminishes silos and improves order accuracy.

Real-Time Efficiency

Post pandemic the convergence of online and brick & mortar store threw a challenge on several retailers especially those who were merely focussing on online stores. The eventuality of this convergence led to opening of offline stores for the convenience of customers who were ready to move out from virtual world. Real-time syndication of inventory whereabouts, quantity and demand plays a critical role in improving the overall efficiency of eCommerce business.

For instance, if a retailer owns multiple warehouses, a well-coordinated WMS solution give access to stock holds, quality and quantity, pricing, and options for cargo movement to last mile in real-time. These business insights can give a lead to a retailer over competitors and improve eCommerce business model.

Improved Warehouse Efficiency

Demand for an item is never stable, it dwindles with inflation and other social as well as economic factors. An automated inventory management software follows the peaks and valleys of demand and consumer behavior. It charts a graph for audit of inventory, as both overstocking and stock outs can be gamechanger for a retailer. And, usually retailers have to combat with these capricious issues. It is a herculean task to monitor the trend manually, so a seamless integration between the departments and warehouses can show the demand trend.

Through retail warehouse management system, retailers can channelize inventory for different purposes and use for business benefits. Sometimes it is not a bad idea to stick with lean business model but it is also important to understand how to optimize the situation for the success and reaping profits. An automated system leverages this information on a single platform which helps in analyzing demand and auditing the next move.