The Friday Report: November 29th, 2019

Popularity of Smaller DCs Requires Special WMS Support

In the battle to meet consumer expectations, e-commerce retailers are making huge changes to distribution processes, delivery networks and warehouse positioning.  Warehouse management systems need to be able to handle fulfillment operations in smaller facilities with no training, leverage consumer-grade mobile technologies and be simple and easy to use with minimal maintenance requirements.

In addition, warehouse management software used for small fulfillment warehouses must be able to handle crossdocking and accommodate a variety of requirements for “on-demand warehousing”.

Sendle U.S. Launch Affordable Flat-Rate Shipping for Small Ecommerce Businesses

Since its introduction in 2014, Sendle has aided tens of thousands of small businesses in Australia to provide cost-effective shipping, regardless of their shipping volume.  Large retailers have a competitive advantage when it comes to shipping.  With high volume operations, retailers are better positioned to take advantage of volume-based shipping discounts, enabling them to absorb high shipping costs.

Sendle helps level the playing field by simplifying the business of shipping.  Sendle has created a network of national and regional delivery vehicles rather than adding more delivery vehicles to the road.  Routes are optimized for efficiency, meaning that a single package may be handled by multiple carriers at differing touchpoints.   The Sendle model enables shipping partners to make routes more profitable and keep shipping costs lower.

Sendle streamlines the process for sellers.  Integration with existing software platforms can be done for free and Sendle provides an easy-to-use flat rate shipping platform. Small businesses can buy a label, schedule a drop-off or pickup without having to calculate shipping costs or arrange shipping details and use the real time package tracking system and dedicated customer service.

E-commerce retailers love the simplicity of the shipping system as well as the sustainable approach to resource utilization.  Many if not most shipping carriers run inefficient, partially filled vehicles and routes to meet consumer expectations for one-or two-day shipping. Sendle minimizes the environmental impact by existing shipping providers to fill their vehicles, maximizing each trip.   In addition, Sendle purchases carbon offsets to reduce the remaining environmental impact.

U.S. Holiday Shopping Season Shows Signs of High Volume

Industry shipping carrier heavyweights UPS, FedEx and USPS are all projecting high volume shipping with “record-breaking returns volume.    The shipping carriers have been emphasizing that shoppers need to factor returns into their plans.  According to FedEx, the peak holiday shipping season starts on December 2nd, Cyber Monday.  The carrier is forecasting that they will transport over 33 million packages through its global network as well as more than double their average daily package volume on each of the two Mondays that follow due to weekend online shopping.

USPS is projecting that it will deliver over 28 million packages per day between December 16th and December 21st, an average of 20.5 million per day through the end of the year and 800 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.