POINT-OF-SALE (Retail Store)

Increase sales through inventory visibility across the network to minimize stock-outs

Studies estimate the opportunity cost of stock-outs to be anywhere from 8% to 20% of sales. For retailers, this is a painful situation since it not only results in a lost sale but erosion of customer loyalty. However, it is a situation that can be easily avoided since the specific item that is out-of-stock is often available at another store, channel, or in a warehouse in the supply chain. Using Nextjet’s Inventory Locator solution, companies can quickly locate inventory anywhere in the supply network, and give customers a number of choices on how to take delivery, while preserving profit margins.

Offer multiple fulfillment options for improved customer service

Once the desired inventory has been located, the customer is presented with a choice of fulfillment options such as:

• Hold for pick-up at another store
• Direct ship to customer
• Ship to same store for pick-up
• Etc.

Protect margins through intelligent sourcing rules and fulfillment logic

The Order Management solution can be made to ensure profitability in determining the fulfillment options. A number of sophisticated sourcing and fulfillment rules can be enforced during the inventory search process, such as having markdown items tied to mandatory shipping charges, etc.

Increase operational efficiency by automating manual processes

Finally, since much of the current process is manual, automating the entire inventory sourcing process creates greater operational efficiency by reducing the amount of time and effort required to fulfill the customer request when a stock-out occurs.