DC Velocity - June 2016

Industry standards body GS1 US published guidelines last month it said would help retailers meet heightened consumer expectations for seamless ordering and delivery experiences across all channels.

The guide was drafted by a group of
retailers, brand owners, manufacturers,
and solution providers in GS1’s Apparel
and General Merchandise Initiative.
Charged with finding solutions for top
merchandising challenges in preparing,
packaging, and shipping products for
in-store and e-commerce fulfillment,
they produced the “Apparel and General
Merchandise E-Commerce Fulfillment
Guideline.”
“E-commerce fulfillment has very dif-
ferent consumer presentation require-
ments than an in-store display. It is the
intent of the group to harmonize the
store and e-commerce channels over
time,” Melanie Nuce, vice president of
apparel and general merchandise for
Lawrenceville, N.J.-based GS1 US, said
in an e-mail.

Recent surveys show that many retail-
ers struggle to maintain adequate prof-
it margins in executing omnichannel
operations as they compete with online
retailers like Amazon.com Inc. by offer-
ing faster, cheaper, and more flexible
shipping options such as “buy online,
pick up from store” and “buy in store,
ship to home.”
E-commerce orders are still a small
portion of total production, so most
companies treat online orders as an
afterthought to the primary factory pro-
cess, triggering extra costs, according to
the group.

The guide could help retailers save money by reducing their order-to-ful-fillment cycle time, according to GS1. The working group has already begun work on drafting a second iteration of the standards for omnichannel fulfillment best practices, scheduled for release in early 2017.

Many of the group members are
already applying these standards to their
current business operations, GS1
said. These include best practices in
areas such as units of measure, tick-
eting a product with Global Trade
Item Number (GTIN) identifica-
tion, and packaging, it said.

The guideline also includes advice on details such as UPC bar-code ticketing, packaging (including polybag type—how it is to be folded, closed, and ventilated), shipping containers, and whether a garment should be presented flat or on a hanger.

“Consumers currently receive
product that is packaged different-
ly by company,” said Nuce. “This
guideline advises on the most
cost-effective, efficient, and visually
aesthetic way to present product
to help ensure the consumers have
a positive experience, as our mem-
bers believe that product presen-
tation is truly a ‘make or break’
moment.”