A case in point:


Best Direct


Tackling multichannel fulfilment challenges


sales, for example, if a retailer hosts a sale or event. To manage stock expectations, Best Direct


B 8


est Direct was founded in 1992, specialising in the sale of demonstrable products in the fitness, homewares and lifestyle categories. Purchased by Industex Spain in 2009, it


continues to operate under the Best Direct brand and sales are generated via its TV channels on Sky 649 and Virgin 813 as well as through the Bestdirect.tv website. As the business has continued to expand and evolve, its retail trade has increased significantly, which was one of the key drivers behind Best Direct outsourcing its fulfilment provision to Spark Response in November 2010.


Changeability of stock One of the biggest considerations when forming a long-term partnership with a fulfilment provider, is that it has a flexible operation with scalable storage facilities and the ability to deploy resources to a specific campaign at short notice.


All ecommerce companies will naturally


develop their product range, introducing new items on a regular basis. As Best Direct offers products via its DRTV channels on Sky and Virgin Media, as well as in retail outlets and online, the product range has an increased capacity for growth and evolution to meet market demands and respond to new trends. Products sold via the TV channel can often


be sold on a while-stocks-last basis as well as act as a trial, with popular lines being subsequently sold in-store and online. The wide variety of products stocked across different market sectors also plays a significant


provides Spark with advance schedules including media plans for TV advertising and any major retailer events that may have an impact on sales, enabling an overarching forecast for resources to be produced and agreed. However, it is imperative to remain flexible and expect the unexpected. Any fulfilment provider must be prepared and able to deploy additional support during peaks of activity that cannot be forecast.


Seasonal peaks and troughs Best Direct products tend to be seasonal, which results in a consistent level of orders across the year, with the only slight seasonal peak coming from retailers in November and December, ahead of the Christmas period. Seasonal peaks and unexpected spikes in


role in stock changeability. Current products in the Best Direct offering can range from a Smart Pen, used for covering car scratches, to a Vibromax exercise machine. Depending on demand for the products, this can have a short- term effect on resources for goods-in and a mid- to long-term effect on product storage and fulfilment. In addition, it is highly likely that some products will prove so popular when sold on TV that they are subsequently sold in-store. This increases the company’s b-to-b order volumes, as well as its direct-to-consumer trade. Several factors have an effect on sales. Products sold in-store are offered via end- of-aisle demonstration displays, using branded point-of-sale materials and often a demonstrational video. Footfall through some of its larger retail outlets can cause an influx in


Direct Commerce Catalogue e-business www.catalog-biz.com


activity are often likely to impact the contact centre before impacting the fulfilment centre. New products sold on TV for the first time can result in higher volumes of calls than expected. Call peaks can be as short as 15- to 30-minute slots each day, whereby high volumes of calls come into the contact centre during specific advertisements shown on TV.


For Best Direct, one of the benefits of


using an outsourced provider is knowing that additional contact centre staff can be assigned to help when needed. Extra advisers can be deployed on campaigns with an unexpected influx in activity using a cross- training methodology whereby all new starters are trained to handle calls for the company’s biggest clients, with more experienced advisers trained to handle other client campaigns in regular training and development sessions. Minimum call abandonment rates are of the utmost importance and advisers whose day-to- day duties are non-telephony related are also trained and ready to handle calls as and when necessary.


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