Inbound Logistics | January 2023

WHAT, IF ANYTHING, HAVE YOU PURCHASED ONLINE DURING THE PANDEMIC THAT YOU HAD NEVER PURCHASED ONLINE BEFORE?

forklifts to navigate around people and objects, and unlike human employees, they don’t need to take breaks. “Automation allows you to spread out the work instead of doing one furious push over the course of 10 hours,” says Matt Cherewka, director of product marketing and strategy at Vecna. Another technology that’s optimizing warehouse throughput is autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs. AMRs automate fulllment picking to reduce a picker’s physical labor while also driving faster turnaround times, explains Mark Wheeler, director of supply chain solutions at Zebra Technologies. Warehouses that implement AMR technology can see productivity double or triple, according to fulllment provider 6 River Systems.

Online shopping habits have changed significantly since the pandemic, finds Anyline's Last- Mile Delivery report. The most popular products consumers purchased for the first time were groceries (43%), home essentials (30%), and restaurant meals (29%), reflecting the realities of store closures and greater demand for products like cleaning materials during the pandemic.

RETAIL (OUTLET) THERAPY Consumers in 2023 expect fast

shipping. In Fast and Free: The One- Way Ratchet of Consumer Expectations , retail technology company Fabric reports that 76% of shoppers expect free two- day delivery with a minimum purchase of $40. And a survey from fulllment solutions provider Flexe reveals that 85% of consumers will abandon a shopping cart if shipping speed is too slow. To meet these expectations, some

retailers are eschewing new distribution infrastructure, instead opting to fulll e-commerce orders directly out of physical stores. In this strategy, known as ship from store, retailers pull items from the available inventory at an outlet. The purchase is then packaged and shipped directly from the brick-and-mortar

location, with no additional distribution centers required. Utilizing an existing store network can shorten the nal mile, thereby improving delivery speeds. But its advantages go beyond fast shipping. One example is cost optimization. “Maybe it’s February in Atlanta. Nobody’s buying winter coats, but a

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU REGARDING LASTMILE DELIVERY?

When asked what was most important to them regarding last-mile delivery, respondents to Anyline's Last-Mile Delivery survey said ensuring their packages are delivered quickly and on time is the top priority. The second most important factor was having real-time communication about the pending delivery, such as notifications of the package leaving the depot, where it is in transit, and when the expected delivery time will be. Having a choice of delivery time ranked third, gaining 17%, while concerns over sustainability ranked last, with just over 1 in 10 (11%) considering it their most important factor in their delivery decisions.

168 Inbound Logistics • January 2023