I n the brave new world of retail distribution, companies must be flexible, accurate, and fast. That’s especially true for those involved in omnichannel distribution, where retail, wholesale,
catalog, and direct-to-consumer orders may be processed and
shipped from the same facility. These retailers must adjust to new
ways of doing business.
“If you look at the attributes of omnichannel, it increases complexity, decreases order size, and puts a burden on retailers to do
distribution in a more cost-effective way,” says Ron Kubera, senior
vice president and general manager of voice company Vocollect, a
division of Honeywell.
Keith Phillips, president and CEO at voice provider Voxware,
reports that when retailers first move into multichannel fulfillment,
they often discover that their distribution is not as efficient as it
should be. “The biggest challenge to omnichannel is that many
retailers do not do their fulfillment that well,” he says. “Where they
are failing is not on the shopping experience, but on the fulfillment.
What used to be seen as a necessary evil is now a critical part of the
overall customer experience.”
HEAR FOR THE TAKING
With its reputation for speed, flexibility, and accuracy, voice technology offers retailers a way to address the complexity of the omnichannel environment. “Their number one concern is how do they
do e-commerce right and best utilize their assets. It is their biggest
fear, and yet it is their biggest opportunity,” says Greg Cronin,
We talked to the
industry’s top voice
system providers to
see how voice aligns
with the new retail
distribution realities.
BY DAVID MALONEY
Voice:
a perfect fit for
omnichannel
distribution
