percent), and total-landed-cost analytics ( 61 percent). (See
Exhibit 2 for the complete list.)
Of course, none of these tools is free, so we asked respondents how they recover supply chain costs. The numbers
show that the most common approach is to collect fees for
expedited delivery, cited by 51 percent of survey-takers.
Next on the list was charging delivery fees for all orders ( 40
percent), followed by collecting fees for returns shipments
( 28 percent). (See Exhibit 3.)
Taken together, retailers’ investments in their omnichan-
nel capabilities (software, hardware, training, shipping, etc.)
add up to serious money. So what’s motivating companies
to continue adding tiles to the omnichannel mosaic? We
asked respondents for the top three reasons they were partic-
ipating in omnichannel commerce or intending to do so and
found that it all comes down to business. The number-one
response was to increase sales ( 51 percent), followed by
increase market share ( 50 percent), improve customer loy-
alty ( 45 percent), and increase margins ( 21 percent).
A GROWING ROLE FOR STORES
To get a feel for the impact of rising consumer expectations on retailers, we asked survey respondents how they
currently fulfill e-commerce orders. Their answers showed
that solutions come in many colors. The most common
response was that orders are fulfilled through a traditional
DC that also handles e-commerce (68 percent). Thirty-nine
percent said items were shipped directly from the manufacturer or supplier, 32 percent said they filled orders through
a Web-only DC, and 26 percent said orders were filled from
the store.
The decision on when to fill e-commerce orders from a
