Retail Warehouse Technology: The Gulf Grows Between The 'Haves' And The 'Have-Nots'

October 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Bob Heaney, lead research analyst, supply chain management, Aberdeen Group

Today’s economic environment has only heightened the warehouse integration challenge, with increased scrutiny of capital expenditures and more demanding requirements for ROI.

Even in the best of times, warehouse management excellence requires the careful balancing of competing objectives such as space/resource utilization versus organizational efficiency, picking and replenishment speed versus accuracy, and increasing throughput versus minimizing labor costs. The complexity of today’s fulfillment process has increased under today’s multi-channel retail logistics environment with same-day Web-ordering and direct-to-consumer models impacting as much as 65% of all companies.