Omnichannel services

Customers value and increasingly expect individual purchasing options. Competitive companies need to offer transparent product availability, a variety of ordering and delivery options, and individual shipment tracking.

Delivery times that meet customer requirements are only possible with connected logistics. Warehouses must organise processes efficiently and transparently to ensure rapid deliveries to retailers and end customers. This requires scalable systems with a high level of service, flexibility and automation.

Smart, connected transport and warehousing systems ensure that orders are processed, picked and delivered as quickly as possible across all sales channels, while companies retain transparency over inventory.

High customer expectations, rising energy and transport costs, and increasing competition intensify price and cost pressure in retail. DACHSER helps companies design needs-based supply chains and optimise logistics processes.

Growing e-commerce sales increase delivery traffic and urban emissions. DACHSER supports greener supply chains through improved vehicle utilisation and Emission-Free Delivery for locally emission-free last-mile deliveries.

Omnichannel sales concepts focus on the customer journey. These days, this journey is incredibly diverse and demanding. The aim of an omnichannel strategy is to bring all sales channels and customer touchpoints together within a single system and to serve them equally. This is the role of logistics: it transforms the entire supply chain into a holistically networked system for the flow of information and goods. Production, warehousing, transport, delivery and customer communication are closely interlinked and operate transparently. High customer satisfaction, rising sales, efficient processes and reduced operational costs are the result of a bespoke and consistently implemented logistics strategy.

All the options mentioned are sales strategies. With single-channel, the company is accessible via only one sales channel; with multi-channel, via at least two channels, such as an online shop and a catalogue. Cross-channel, on the other hand, links all the sales channels and points of sale used. The customer can, for example, order a product online, buy it in-store, or order it online and collect it in-store. Omnichannel differs from cross-channel in that it connects not only the sales channels and points of sale, but also all contact options and communication channels. As a result, the customer can use several channels simultaneously, whilst the networked database provides complete transparency of all goods flows.

The prerequisite for a successful omnichannel concept – and, at the same time, one of the most important omnichannel solutions – is the creation of a holistic information system spanning all process components. Many other omnichannel solutions form an integral part of this IT infrastructure. For instance, all stock levels must be recorded and accessible across all channels in real time so that production, warehousing and delivery processes can be optimally coordinated. Furthermore, there are solutions designed to ensure cross-border movement of goods and customer-focused last-mile delivery. Another important point is that retailers should ask themselves, when selecting an omnichannel system, whether it meets their current and future technical requirements. This is the only way to ensure that omnichannel solutions such as Click & Collect, Click & Reserve or Ship-from-Store can keep pace with planned developments.

Omnichannel puts the consumer at the centre. It optimally meets all customer requirements by reducing barriers to purchase, optimising customer services and making delivery processes more flexible. At the same time, companies with an omnichannel sales solution reduce their operational costs and, ideally, increase their sales figures.

Dropshipping is a form of direct trade in which online retailers have goods delivered directly from the manufacturer to the retailer or the end customer without intermediate storage. In this way, retailers can offer a wide range of products without needing storage space or their own transport operations. Incoming orders are fulfilled entirely by the dropshipping partner – including parcel tracking and returns management.

Omnichannel fulfilment refers to the handling of the entire ordering and delivery process – from receipt of the order to delivery of the goods to the customer. This encompasses intelligent stock management as well as storage, packaging, order picking and the dispatch itself. Nowadays, cost-effective, resource-efficient and, above all, customer-friendly omnichannel fulfilment is a crucial factor in the competitiveness of retail businesses.