Importación y compra local de mercadería

One thing we must keep in mind as we consider catering to the needs of the current consumer is that it is a multichannel environment. You cannot just offer me one way to make my purchase and expect me to view you as a modern establishment. If not for me, for someone in my family, you must offer options. And there is money to be made in the process. “As shoppers’ service expectations continue to rise,” says industry analyst Denise Power, “many multi-channel retailers are asking, ‘How high?’ Today’s multi-channel leaders are happy to respond to these heightened demands because they’ve

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seen revenues and customer bases grow when shoppers are given what they want when they want it in the channel they choose” (Power, 2001a, p. 14).

Power cites The Limited, a Columbus, Ohio-based retailer, as a firm that offers its consumers buying opportunities in all three channels — store, catalog, and Internet. It is just good business. “Office supplies retailer, Staples, Farmingham, Massachusetts, estimates its multi-channel shoppers spend up to four times more than single-channel shoppers.”

Consider another interesting trend that meets the needs of the multichan- nel shopper — the installation of in-store kiosks. A personal computer hooked to BlueLight.com in Kmart stores has turned into a new means to

generate sales. According to Ellen Neuborne, writing for Business Week:

Kiosks, once regarded as a low-rent customer service desk, are rising to a new role: pitchman-in-chief for the company Web site. Retailers have spent big on e-commerce, but they have no way to direct shoppers to their virtual stores. TV ads cost too much, banner ads don’t bear much fruit, and you can generate only so much buzz plastering a Web address on bags. Kiosks bridge the gap between brick and click. (Neuborne, 2001, p. EB 6)

Retailers are apparently beginning to see a positive impact. Five months after installing 3,500 kiosks nationwide, Kmart reported that 20% of shoppers at BlueLight.com came from inside Kmart stores. That makes the kiosk buyers the second strongest draw for the e-tailing site, behind only Kmart’s free Internet service. Evidence shows shoppers who purchase both offline and online from a given retailer tend to buy more. Neuborne also cites Recreation Equipment Inc., which added an e-tailing arm and kiosks in its 60 stores. “Customers who shop both online and in stores spend 22 percent more than those who buy only from the real-world outlets,” says Joan Broughton, REI’s vice president of direct an online sales (Neuborne, 2001, p. EB6).

Without a doubt, e-retailing is a reality and a portion of sales is going to move through this channel. And what does it take to succeed in this area? According to John Stuart, U.K. director of global e-business solutions company Merant, “In a nutshell, there are three areas that can be considered critical success factors — choice, personalization, and service quality. If there’s no choice — or even not enough choice — it will lead the visitor to call on other sites. Personalization will build loyalty and encourage sales — and service quality means that the fulfillment part of the process is painless for the customer” (Stuart, 2001, p. 47). These comments apply to buying in general and set the stage for the next requirement, covering the last mile in the delivery process effectively.

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E-Fulfillment Must Be a Part of Advanced Supply Chains

Whether a consumer makes a purchase in a physical store or places an order over the Internet, which we project will continue to increase as a percentage of new sales but will be limited by industry to a small percentage of total purchases, the goods have to get to the point of receipt. Success in any retailing operation, or any good business delivery system for that matter, depends on whether or not the firm can fulfill orders in a manner that meets consumer expectations. Rather than simply focusing on getting orders out of the factory or distribution center so revenues can be booked, the astute company concentrates on doing the job right the first time and retaining consumers because of the skill in their delivery processing. That is becoming the heart of the second wave of fulfillment, often enhanced through electronic capabilities built into the processing. Moving to the most advanced levels of supply chain requires a firm to enter the realm of electronically enhanced fulfillment —or e-fulfillment.

Patrick S. Sedlack, writing for Supply Chain Management Review, puts the

necessary new focus and transition into proper perspective, using e-tailing as the medium of distribution.

Moving from the first to the second wave of e-fulfillment begins with an understanding of the difference between e-fulfillment and traditional fulfill- ment. Online orders typically are picked and packed in ‘eaches’ and then moved via parcel carrier to the customer, who is usually located at a residence. By contrast, traditional shipments move as palletized freight in truckload quantities, typically replenishing a store or distribution center. E-Fulfillment also differs significantly from catalog fulfillment in spite of obvious similar- ities. Some of the more prominent differences include smaller orders, increased returns, higher customer expectations, and unpredictable demand. To succeed in the online world, bricks-and-mortar companies that are skilled at pallet load and caseload operations must learn how to handle high volumes of ‘eaches’ — orders for individual items. Transportation processes that develop truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments must be adapted to handle online orders for one or two items to be shipped in packages. And companies that traditionally have experienced low levels of returned goods now must cope with return rates of 10 or 20 percent — or higher (Sedlack, 2001, p. 83).

Today’s consumer demands near perfection from the network of choice. They want to receive exactly what they ordered in excellent condition at the time promised by the person making the sale. It all sounds easy, but it is straining some networks to the point of driving them out of business.

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One of the first requirements is to have a convenient means of accessing the flow of goods across whatever channel is used at all times of the day or week. Consumers expect easy contact with the person making the sale and expect assistance in tracking deliveries once the order is placed. They also expect some form of customization to their orders, even if that includes only a special gift card or greeting placed inside the delivery package. All of this means a firm must have its information online as it relates to availability of goods before order placement, movement of the goods in transit, and a follow up on how well the goods were received. Consumers abhor having to back order goods that they thought were in stock and will switch to another source as fast as they can drive to the next store or move their mouse to a new site. Attaining excellence in this demanding fulfillment environment begins internally. At the heart of an efficient e-fulfillment system is a sound, inte- grated pick, pack, protect, and ship operation. Current technology systems should be in play to enhance the effectiveness and speed of the processing. The physical center used for fulfillment must be segregated to handle the variation in order size, from large corporate accounts and full truckloads to individual consumer orders shipped in lot sizes of one to a few. The order management system should then have capability across any mode chosen for delivery — truck, van, train, airplane, or ship. And today, no system is complete if it cannot handle global shipments.