Omnichannel commerce can be complicated, but it doesn't have to feel like rocket science. Let's take Ship-from-Store. Shoppers should be able to find your products on your website, go through a simple checkout process, and swiftly receive their order from a partnering retailer.
Sounds complicated for the retailer, right? Wrong! Quivers Ship-from-Store is a favorite for specialty brands because it makes what could be a complex process something simple and manageable. To help demonstrate how Quivers Ship-from-Store runs so smoothly, we’d like to take you behind the scenes for “a day in the life” of an order.
7.42 AM
Steve clocks in for his shift at the brand Summit Skis’ warehouse in South Dakota. Once his second cup of coffee kicks in, he notes that the SnowHawks — the brand’s flagship ski boots — are out of stock in all but a few sizes.
10.16 AM
Over in New Hampshire, Cassandra’s group chat is popping with messages about her friends’ upcoming ski trip to Stowe, VT this weekend. Cassandra is excited, but then remembers she needs new ski boots and hasn’t been paid yet. Still, she goes to the Summit Ski website and selects the SnowHawks in her size.
Thanks to Quivers’ lightweight HoverCart, it only takes a matter of seconds to navigate the checkout process. And it doesn’t even matter that she’s waiting on that paycheck: Cassandra is able to use Quivers Pay Later to split the payment into four manageable interest-free installments over the space of six weeks.
But how is Cassandra able to make this order when Summit is out of stock in her size of SnowHawks? Because Summit is using Quivers to connect with retailers who stock their products. In this case, retailers close to Cassandra’s home in Bedford, NH, have stock of the SnowHawks in her size, so she’s able to place the order.
10.34 AM
What happens next? Well, using Quivers’ Beaconing order routing feature, local retailers are offered the chance to fulfill Cassandra’s order. Summit is able to set the parameters that determine in which order retailers are given the opportunity to claim orders (this can be related to distance, stock levels, and so on).
In this case, the retailer closest to Cassandra’s home address fails to accept the order within the allotted time period, which means that the next closest retailer on the list, Peak Performance in neighboring Manchester, NH, receives a notification about her order. General Manager Eleanor double-checks their stock before clicking “Accept” on the order. (Retailers can also choose to connect or manually enter in their inventory, which gives them the option to “auto-claim” orders made by brands using Beaconing.)
Something important to note here: While some brands prefer to use Beaconing, others opt for Auto Assignment, which when enabled, automatically assigns orders to fulfillers as soon as an order is placed. Once again, the brand has complete control over how retailers are assigned orders, with the option to assign by Locality, Most Inventory, Least Inventory, or Round Robin.
11.47 AM
Eleanor’s staff immediately start preparing the order for delivery. Cassandra receives an email update with an expected delivery time.
3.02 PM
Cassandra’s new pair of SnowHawks are fully packaged and prepared for delivery the next morning.
With a 24-hour bidding system, we’d still have to wait another 19 and a half hours simply for the fulfilling retailer to be confirmed. Thanks to the speed and simplicity of Quivers Ship-from-Store, brands, retailers and consumers all reap the rewards.
- Consumers like Cassandra get their products quicker than before while supporting local businesses.
- Retailers like Peak Performance gain an additional sales channel and subsequently place larger wholesale orders with Quivers brands.
- Brands like Summit benefit from increased sell-in from satisfied retailers. And that’s not to mention how a connected inventory results in a reduction in out-of-stocks and increased sales.
Up to 65% of consumers switch to a new brand when an item is out of stock or simply isn’t offered for sale on the brand’s website, but with Quivers, this needn’t be a concern as loyal consumers have access to both your inventory and your partnering retailers' inventory through your website.
Want to learn more about how Quivers makes Ship-from-Store and other omnichannel processes simple for specialty brands and retailers? Request a demo today.
