Home Depot Bolsters Online Business With New Direct Fulfillment Center
By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA
In the wake of rising online sales, the company plans two additional DFCs to improve customer service
Earlier this week, Home Depot announced the opening of its first of three new direct fulfillment centers (DFCs) — this one in Locust Grove, GA. The company has plans to open two more over the next two years in Perris, CA, and Troy, OH. These new DFCs will be adding more than three million square feet and approximately 1,000 jobs to its supply chain. New warehouse management and material handling systems will enable the company to pack and ship ordered goods more quickly, cutting down on the time customers need to wait for their HomeDepot.com orders.
As Mark Holifield, senior VP of supply chain says, “This is a significant investment in our ability to say yes to customers with confidence. Yes, you can have access to our entire inventory to fulfill your offer. Yes, you can expect a speedy delivery. And yes, you can rely on information updates about your delivery.”
Read: Sustainable Supply Chain Management
The new Locust Grove distribution center will hold 100,000 products, extending The Home Depot aisle beyond the 35,000 products typically available at the average physical store, the press release says.
This move comes at an important time for the company, especially considering the great success it saw with its e-commerce business in its third quarter. Back in November, the company reported that web sales grew 50 percent and accounted for 3 percent of total sales. This steep increase is likely the result of the many enhancements the company has been making in the recent months. One of these new additions is the First Phone program, Internet Retailer reported back in November. This program ensures a quicker pickup for customers, since orders no longer need to be processed at a required terminal in store. Now, sales associates out in the aisle are quipped with wireless devices, such as computer tablets, that enable orders to be identified and picked up more quickly from anywhere in the store. With programs like First Phone and now these new fulfillment centers, Home Depot should be able to provide customers with a quicker, more convenient shopping process, regardless of how, when, and where the customer chooses to shop.
In addition to the 1,000 jobs that these new fulfillment centers will bring to the economy, the company has also announced it’s looking to fill more than 80,000 seasonal positions for the spring.