Omnichannel Packaging - Time To Make The Change

You can’t throw a stone without hitting another article about how ecommerce is affecting retail.  But one topic that seems to be underserved is how products are actually being shipped once your customer selects it via your multi-modal omnichannel delivery drone.  The reality is, the experience of how a package is received matters for consumers, not to mention Dim Weight price increases, the speed of ecommerce growth, and generally tough competitive times.  You can hardly afford to overlook the opportunity to optimize the packaging your product ships in.

The heart of the challenge is that your packaging and supply chain were not built for ecommerce shipping.  Your systems have been optimized over 50+ years of efficiency improvements for the brick & mortar supply chain.  The channels of today’s marketplace, like ecommerce shipping and ‘click and collect,’ require creative solutions which need to tie-in or bolt-onto your existing logistics network.

But shipping an order to the end consumer requires significantly more activity in your fulfillment center than shipping to your stores.  You now must pick the product from the case pack, then prepare it for shipment through a demanding (Ace Ventura anyone?)  and a not-very-transparent “last mile” journey, which easily has 3-5x more touch points than your brick & 7mortar supply chain.  A bolt-on that isn’t designed with your supply chain in mind, will have difficulty achieving your goals.