You know that big box retailers like Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, etc. are expanding their presence in the e-commerce world as a means to compete more effectively against more agile e-retailers like Wayfair, Overstock and so on. Like it or not, e-commerce (and drop shipping) is a market segment that’s growing by double digits year over year.
There are BIG reasons for retailers to move in this direction but there are also BIG advantages to the suppliers working as a drop ship vendor (DSV).
One of the biggest advantages is your risk as a supplier can be spread across MANY retailers as opposed to big box programs that can end without notice at any time leaving you with unsold inventory and a huge financial loss.
Another advantage is better margins. In typical big box brick and mortar fulfillment you can get beat down on price with the expectation of making it up in volume. Unfortunately, that rarely if ever happens – you end up taking lower margins due to allowances.
Lastly, online shopping is a powerful and lucrative force that allows you to be agile and react quickly to market demands, to observe changes and gain a better sense of real-time demand for product making inventory forecasting easier.
But to succeed you need to follow the Retailer’s rules! The truth is that non-compliance by suppliers can cost retailers literally billions of dollars in unexpected processing and rework. When you, as a supplier, make money for your retailers they will value your relationship more highly.
More and more retailers are recommending OPAL to their suppliers for this reason.
For the Retailer, OPAL is 100% compliant. OPAL processes a retailer’s orders for the supplier and complies with all necessary transactions (Acknowledgement, Confirmation, ASN, Invoices, etc.), PO pricing, packaging, labeling, shipping documentation and accurate, on-time inventory feeds in just a few seconds per order. This speed and accuracy makes a supplier much more valuable to their retailer.
For your business’ productivity, OPAL processes orders with a no-touch, self-driving approach that works 24×7, without the need for an additional Warehouse Management System, Shipping Software, Retailer Portal or EDI company. It also reduces Order Processing time by up to 90%, Order Processing Cost by up to 80% and Undelivered Packages to less than 1%. It also increases Order Accuracy up to 99%, as well as increasing Picker / Packer Productivity and Daily Shipments by 25%-50%. All without EDI charges.