Ship from store, or in-store fulfillment, is a logistics strategy that has emerged from the omnichannel retail trend. This approach encourages businesses, particularly retailers, to centralize inventory across all locations, enabling them to fulfill online orders from any facility, center, or physical store.
What is Ship from Store?
The ship-from-store concept involves sending customer orders from a physical store rather than a distribution center. Before this strategy, all logistics operations for e-commerce shipments were conducted from a warehouse specifically designed for storing and dispatching numerous orders.
While distribution centers offer significant advantages in logistics, particularly in stock management and storage capacity, they often cannot match the quick delivery times that come from dispatching products from a nearby location.
With the rise of omnichannel retail and the need to enhance the customer purchasing experience to increase sales, many businesses have started to distribute orders directly from brick-and-mortar stores. This shift provides two essential benefits in omnichannel retail:
- Increased stock availability
- Reduced delivery times
Ship from Store: Benefits
- Elimination of stockouts
- Spike in sales
- Shorter delivery times
- Better responsiveness
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Logistics scalability and adaptability
In summary, employing a ship-from-store strategy enables you to deliver products from the nearest physical store, thereby reducing delivery times, boosting sales, and improving customer satisfaction.
Ship from Store: Challenges and Disadvantages
- Space optimization
- Digital versus physical customers
- Packaging management
- Personnel training
- Inventory synchronization
- Logistics service: Physical stores typically accommodate logistics operators for incoming goods. With ship from store, the store must have an efficient logistics service provider to handle online orders for distribution.
Managing online orders from a physical store is not as straightforward as it might appear. Ultimately, a company can choose one logistics strategy over another, but if it becomes ineffective or fails to meet expectations, it can be counterproductive.
Technology for Adopting a Ship-from-Store Strategy
An effective ship-from-store strategy requires all orders to be prepared from either the center or the physical store. Synchronizing both inventories through software is essential.
- WMS includes the Store Fulfillment module, which connects the warehouse management system to point-of-sale terminals. This module provides real-time inventory control for both the warehouse and physical stores, while also coordinating picking, replenishment, transfers between stores, and returns.
Additionally, for managing the online store, WMS offers the Marketplaces & E-commerce Platforms Integration module, which connects the WMS with major online marketplaces and platforms. Lastly, the Multi Carrier Shipping Software module simplifies last-mile delivery management, organizing order packaging, generating labels for carriers, and creating tracking numbers for customer orders.
Meeting Omnichannel Challenges Effectively
Consolidating your inventory across all facilities and physical stores is the first step toward an efficient omnichannel strategy. Many retailers are modernizing their logistics approach to convert their physical stores into small distribution centers.
Implementing a ship-from-store strategy can help you avoid losing sales and customers, while also reducing delivery times and enhancing overall customer satisfaction. This will make your supply chain more flexible and competitive, allowing it to respond effectively to fluctuating demand.