General Merchandise Fulfillment Solutions

General Merchandise Fulfillment Solutions

Compared to last year, US general merchandise sales revenue increased by 5% in the week ending September 25, 2021. Retailers are migrating to micro-fulfillment, curbside pickups, and in-store fulfillment for faster deliveries and cost-efficiency. 

This transition to micro-e-commerce order fulfillment poses significant challenges for general merchandise distribution centers. Ongoing labor shortages make it difficult to find enough qualified, capable workers. Filling these orders also requires a different approach than when shipping entire pallets.

Other issues impacting general merchandise warehouses include meeting tight shipping schedules, handling larger SKUs, minimizing errors and reducing per-unit fulfillment costs.

About GreyOrange Solutions

We can provide your general merchandise warehouse with everything you need to transition to a robotic distribution system. Our product line for the e-commerce order fulfillment process includes our advanced Ranger™ robot series. Choose the most appropriate unit for various tasks, including:

  • Goods-to-person
  • Pick and pack
  • Totes-to-person
  • Order-to-person
  • Assisted picking

Our distribution center robots include a GreyMatter™ software integration. This intuitive artificial intelligence-based solution can drive optimal decisions and deliver rapid execution across your entire fulfillment operation. It’s flexibly engineered to adapt to your evolving warehouse environment and elevate your level to meet your expanding vision. 

Choose from three GreyMatter options — Pro, Power and Premium — to fit your unique order fulfillment requirements. We’ll collaborate with you to develop a platform-based solution that enables you to draw and analyze essential data across your business.

General Merchandise Fulfillment Solutions

How AMRs Improve General Merchandise Order Fulfillment

Our e-commerce order fulfillment solutions for general merchandise can help you pick and fill orders faster and more efficiently, allowing you to boost productivity and meet your customers’ expectations. You’ll also reduce expenses by saving time and reducing your reliance on human labor, and our robots contribute to a less hazardous work environment for your employees. 

The general merchandise segment has seen a shift in channel demand from physical stores to ecommerce. The industry also faces challenges such as labor crunch, poor visibility of inventory, fragmented logistics, variable SKUs, and SKU proliferation.

Only a connected approach between fulfillment channels will help merchants reduce last mile, drive profits, and improve customer experience. Personalized shopping experience along-with omnichannel mode of fulfillment will cater to the Now-delivery demands.

Fulfillment Trends in the General Merchandise Industry

1

Frequent Out-of-Stock and Overstock Inventory

There is a need for real-time inventory access and visibility. Also, the Dock-to-stock and order-to-dispatch time needs to be reduced.

2

Rising Fulfillment Costs

With a rapid growth of e-commerce due to changing buying patterns, the consumer preferrence for home-delivery has increased fulfillment costs

3

Shift in Mall and Department Store Strategies

Despite prominent stores and mall retailers closing thousands of stores in the US, department stores are expected to recover. Adopting quick, scalable, and resilient fulfillment automation will advance and expedite fulfillment processes.

4

Flexible Fulfillment Options

Convenience stores are still the most recession-proof retail channel. As consumers rely on these with slightly tweaked fulfillment methods of curbside pickup, brick-and-mortar stores will remain alive.

5

Lack of Efficient Omnichannel Fulfillment

Varying demands from new channel mix need a customer-centric fulfillment strategy for real-time inventory visibility and faster last-mile deliveries

Learn More About AMRs for General Merchandise Distribution

Take the next step to optimizing your fulfillment center operations. Find the GreyOrange office nearest you and contact us to request additional information today.

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