Best foot forward for Soletrader click-and-collect portal
Soletrader has unveiled a new click-and-collect portal, developed by multi-channel inventory and order management specialist MNP.
The portal enables Soletrader to utilise in-store inventory for click-and-collect orders, negating the need to draw from warehouse stock. This process results in quicker collection time for customers, whilst attributing the store with the revenue from those sales.
Soletrader is now able to process returns and refunds orders in-store for all online orders, whether placed on its own website, Amazon, eBay or paid via PayPal.
MetaPack & B2C Europe offer enhanced services
Cross border distribution specialist B2C Europe has signed a partnership agreement with MetaPack.
The partnership will provide MetaPack’s retail customers and partners with access to B2C Europe’s integrated domestic and international distribution and returns solutions.
The agreement will mean MetaPack can grow the range of services it offers to its customers, helping to meet growing demand from retailers and consumers for better delivery options and services.
Bulk orders keep 3PL busy right up to the Christmas shut off
Berkshire-based 3PL, Walker Logistics, has announced that during Q4 2015 the number of individual product units dispatched on behalf of its clients was up 89% on the corresponding period 12 months earlier.
Meanwhile, the number of customer orders fulfilled by Walker during Q4 2015 rose by 5.6%.
William Walker, the company’s sales and marketing director, believes the disparity between the percentage increase in orders processed and units picked reflects a growing willingness among retailers to order products in ever larger quantities. “Traditionally, our B2B customers have received their biggest orders from their retailer clients in late Q3, early Q4, but this year retailers kept ordering in large quantities well in to Q4 and almost right up to Christmas,” he said.
“For example, a cosmetics firm for whom we supply storage, pick, pack and dispatch services, usually receives an order for around 300 pieces at a time from Amazon, but this year Amazon ordered 3,500 units at a time. And this was far from unique.”
2016: the year of driverless deliveries, drone drop-offs and the return of pedalling posties
Doorstep parcel collections and deliveries will be transformed over the coming year, predicts parcel broker ParcelHero. The company says deliveries will become the new retail battle front, with customer-friendly delivery options ranking as important as price for many consumers. New technology will increase customer choice of when and where your items are delivered, and you could even find your packages delivered by drone or driverless truck.
ParcelHero’s head of customer research, David Jinks MILT, said: “This year will see a transformation in the way we send and receive parcels and deliveries. We believe seemingly ‘sci-fi’ delivery methods are nearer than most people think. Driverless deliveries may sound like something out of I Robot, but in fact will be happening in London this year.”
