Warehouse and logistics processes must be a central part of an omnichannel strategy and mapped by a powerful system such as the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud. The solution serves as the control center for the entire retail chain.
It is not only during the Christmas and cyber weeks that retailers who sell their goods via different channels have to struggle with overselling. This is because inventory data is often not displayed in real time on all sales platforms. This means that a product can be ordered online while it is no longer available in the warehouse. If there is insufficient networking, information and prices in your own online shop can also differ from those in the branch or on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Co. The result: customers are dissatisfied, the cancellation rate increases or they switch directly to the competition. This happens when the company's warehousing and logistics processes are not integrated into the omnichannel strategy. However, modern customers do not only want to shop across channels. They also want fast delivery times, a high level of reliability and flexible return options, which they can use to return products bought online to any branch, for example. "A solution like the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud is necessary because it ensures the optimal networking of all processes, from order management and logistics to shipping and returns," says Martin Öztürk, Sales Consultant at the software manufacturer ROQQIO.
In particular, retailers who combine stationary shops with online sales usually have large inventories in stock. In addition to a main warehouse, the goods can be distributed to other warehouses, branches can be used as additional storage facilities or external logisticians can be used. There is also the possibility for retailers to have the goods delivered directly to the customer by the manufacturer in their own name. In this way, retailers can increase their range without incurring intermediate storage costs. As the central data system, the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud makes each of these warehouses e-commerce-capable and serves all sales channels with the current inventory data.
The solution creates virtual warehouses in which sales and reservations are subtracted from stock levels. The current value is communicated to the respective sales channels almost in real time. In this way, the cloud ensures that the specified availability of the goods always corresponds to the real stock status and that products are ready for delivery or collection from the branch when an order is placed. "In the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud, virtual warehouses can not only be created, but also configured and managed. It is also possible to finely configure each touchpoint or sales channel. This includes storing specific stock levels and logistics options. In this way, it becomes the inventory management system for all touchpoints, where all orders come together and are processed,” says Martin Öztürk.
Retailers can configure the routing, i.e. the shortest transport connection, for example by assigning virtual warehouses to specific sales channels. Alternatively, the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud uses an intelligent algorithm to select the optimal shipping location. By evaluating various attributes that are determined for each warehouse - such as address or capacity - each product is sent to the customer or to the branch with optimized shipping costs. In addition, the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud decouples the original shipping order from the return location, so customers can smoothly return goods ordered online in the branch. “The solution serves as the control center for the entire retail chain. And because the communication is uniform, the customer doesn't even notice from which warehouse he is being served," says Martin Öztürk.
ROQQIO offers software solutions and concepts for the implementation of the customer journey in omnichannel retail. The portfolio includes systems for merchandise control, POS and the enterprise SaaS application ROQQIO Commerce Cloud. This manages different sales channels and controls complex backend processes, including order management, payment and logistics. The combination of these stationary and online technologies enables a seamless omnichannel experience. Processes such as Click & Collect or the exchange of goods bought online in the branch work smoothly. More than 1,500 companies already trust in the services and solutions of the commerce experts from ROQQIO.