The Changing World of Fulfilment

This post first featured in the Modern Retail Guide to Fulfilment November 2019. To read the full ebook click here, or scroll to the end of the page to view on page-turning software.

Modern Retail had the pleasure of speaking with CEO and Founder of Scurri, Rory O’Connor, about the rapid rate at which the fulfilment journey is evolving.

Scurri connects and optimises online ordering, shipping and delivery to be simple, effective and adaptable to companies’ needs. Taking the effort out of ecommerce, the Scurri team specialise in creating seamless interactions at multiple touch-points.

Here’s what Rory had to say about the changing world of fulfilment:

MR: How has the world of fulfilment changed since Scurri began in 2010?

RO: It’s changed a lot. There is more complexity, more options and things change faster than they used to, driven by the widespread uptake and application of technology.

People are looking for more information. They want status updates and tracking information. When you have leaders like Amazon making this information easily available, people expect it and customers don’t care that it’s technologically hard to get… they want it.

MR: What are your ecommerce customers’ pain points?

RO: Often, scalability is a challenge, particularly with the rise of ecommerce. Retailers and companies can be highly ambitious and find that operations which worked for them when they were smaller are creaking at the seams and are not sustainable. 

Also, the speed at which you can grow and develop on the internet means that brands can see such fast and sudden growth, that it can get out of hand quickly. 

International business also proves difficult for many. For example, if a retailer sees opportunities outside of the UK and looks to ship internationally, this can become a lot more complicated.

Competition and changing trends mean every company needs to keep up, with some being followers and others being leaders. 

MR: How is voice search influencing retail?

RO: The uptake of voice search and Amazon’s Alexa has been phenomenal, but the use of it for shopping has been small in comparison to what it could become. We’re going through the stage of learning and this always takes time, but I believe in the next five years, it could become very influential. In the industrial application, voice activated picking and packaging is becoming more standard in warehouses, so this will help retailers and benefit customers.

MR: What should retailers focus on when deciding on delivery processes?

RO: The way you fulfil orders should depend on what your overall offering is. For instance, if you have a huge focus on experiences, these must be done right. For other companies, it may be speed that is most important. The first thing you need to do is map out your process from the customer’s point of view, so no matter what your focus and purpose, you move towards these objectives. If you’re looking to grow your reputation and attract new business, work on improving your Trustpilot score.

We are seeing the post-purchase experience being more important than ever before. Brands need to keep customers updated after the goods have left the building until the time it’s in their hands and this is key, so we see more demand for our product to build this part.

MR: What advice would you give to a retailer looking to simplify their fulfilment?

RO: If you’re looking for a partner in solving any fulfilment challenge, make sure there are case studies and they have the experience of doing it. Assess whether they’re the right solution for you, and whether you could advance your operations further by working with someone smaller, or more niche. Look at their portfolios and understand who they have worked with.

You will sometimes have A players and very niche, individual tech suppliers or smaller companies… yet you will get far better service from the smaller companies because it’s often in their best interest to serve you well.

Consider what you need them to do. Do they have experience in doing it? What is your excitement of working with this partner? Sometimes you meet a team and they know the subject inside and out. In situations like this, you know you’re talking to experts and you know this tech can help you to leapfrog ahead.

Read the full Modern Retail Guide to Fulfilment November 2019 below.