SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS
JUST A CLICK AWAY – HOW WEARABLE TECH IS HELPING RETAILERS SUCCEED ONLINE
By Karen Bomber, marketing director for Honeywell Productivity Products and Solutions T
he Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how we live and work. The resulting lockdowns and social distancing measures have also changed how we shop, which in turn has created new challenges for retailers. Online sales are not a new phenomenon but their rapid growth in recent months has upended established retail trends; the high street, which was already struggling to keep pace, has taken a massive hit leaving even established retail giants struggling to adapt. According to ‘The Deloitte Consumer Tracker Q4 2020’, online retailing rose overall by nearly 50 per cent in 2020, the highest annual growth since 2008, with food and household goods reporting a growth rate nearly double that. The online share of total retailing peaked at 36.2 per cent during the November lockdown, the highest ever recorded.
A VIRTUAL SWING TOWARDS ONLINE
For many consumers, this change in shopping habits is likely to stick once the pandemic is over – the bricks and clicks balance has swung in favour of the virtual shop for many of us and the scale of the change is already having a substantial impact on how and where we spend our money. As a result, retailers of all sizes are under pressure to adapt to customers’ increasing reliance on online purchases in order to remain competitive. Even for the most net-savvy businesses the scale of the change can be a challenge – particularly when it comes to the supply chain. As a result, new cost-effective fulfilment centres are needed to meet the growing demand for home deliveries. These facilities are more than just warehouses with
racking and stacking – for them to work efficiently requires sophisticated order processing and picking systems. Seamlessly integrating all the back-end technology with the physical picking and order fulfilment is essential but it can be complicated.
THE ELEPHANT IN THE WAREHOUSE
A co-ordinated response to these challenges has been put in place by Jumbo Supermarkten, the second largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands. It initially invested in a range of advanced warehousing as part of a coordinated move into online shopping. Alongside its traditional distribution facilities Jumbo built a new fully automated one and two dedicated e-commerce fulfilment centres, as well as eight hubs in large towns and cities.
However, demand has outstripped the capacity of these facilities and so in January 2021 Jumbo opened a third fulfilment centre, approximately 40,000 square metres in size. To assemble customer orders as quickly as possible, the retailer worked with Honeywell, an established tech partner, to ensure this new facility delivered the best potential service. As part of the implementation, Jumbo wanted easy-to-use warehouse scanning technology to streamline order fulfilment. Despite a heavy investment in automation, many of the functions still require people on the warehouse floor.
A TOUCHING PERFORMANCE The answer was to equip workers with portable, Bluetooth-enabled, CT40 touchscreen computer/
28 MARCH 2021 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS
scanners, specifically designed by Honeywell for use in a busy warehouse environment. These not only ensured optimal productivity, their use of the Mobility Edge platform delivers futureproof upgrades, which provides a lower total cost of ownership due to the longer lifecycle. Jumbo was confident this approach would work having already deployed a range of Honeywell devices in its supply chain, including CT60 and CN80 handheld computer/scanners, VM1A forklift mobile computers and the ultra-rugged CK65 mobile devices in its cold storage operations. The retailer has also installed Honeywell tracking devices in vehicles across its supply chain fleet. The result – enhanced productivity, real-time management data, timely order fulfilment and sustained customer satisfaction.
WHAT’S IN STORE?
Consumers have willingly embraced online retail as part of their response to Covid-related restrictions and without doubt this development will form part of the post-pandemic reality. In order for retailers to successfully adapt to this they will need to invest in smart, agile technology that delivers a unified retail experience – from order, to warehouse, to customer. To ensure the best possible outcome, retailers should partner with a knowledgeable supplier with experience in online retail and a proven track record of delivering large, complex implementations that offer a scalable upgrade path that can match developing business trends.
Honeywell
www.honeywellaidc.com/
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