Why Multi-Channel?

In-store fulfillment only works of inventory is managed very well and is always up to date. This is the holy grail of a phenomenal customer experience. With most national retailers already offering this option, it’s becoming a competitive advantage for regional businesses that have a smaller footprint.

Consumers have extremely high expectations, driven by those large brands. They are able to purchase however they want - and that means many different channels.

In order to seize the advantage of in-store fulfillment and reduce ugly surprises simultaneously across channels and marketplaces, businesses need an unimpeachable source of inventory data.

How it works!

1. Number of sales channels
2. Number of distribution options
3. Number of systems being used
4. Interfaces between those systems

Let’s look at each one:

Sales Channels

If you’re selling through 15 different marketplaces, 2 e-commerce websites, have 20 retail locations, and also attend consumer exhibitions, there are a lot of ways that new orders can come in. Each of them is an opportunity to provide a great customer experience. Each of them is also subject to changing data and human error.

Distribution Options

Warehouses, retail stores, and 3PLs are the most common distribution options, but without a common system to tie them together, products may not get to customers as quickly as they could. For some, customers will have the option to choose theirs, but a lot of the time, there is only one option. Adding more options for distribution increases the complexity of distributing orders.

Systems Being Used

Your commerce stack is probably pretty deep - most are. At an absolute minimum, you have an eCommerce platform, an inventory management system (of some kind), and something to track finances or accounting.

If your operations are more developed, you’ll have multiple marketplaces integrated, multichannel software, and possible specialized systems for order management or warehousing.

Interfaces Between Systems

Each of those systems has a chance to fail, and more importantly, the connections between each of those systems are tenuous. Since you likely don’t have direct control over the technology behind the integrations, it’s possible they can fail without you knowing about it. More systems = more problems.